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2008 Economic Calendar |
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Resource Center » U.S. & Intl Recaps | Release Dates | Why Investors Care | Today's Calendar
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The Conference Board compiles a survey of consumer attitudes on present economic conditions and expectations of future conditions. Five thousand consumers across the country are surveyed each month. While the level of consumer confidence is associated with consumer spending, the two do not move in tandem each and every month. Why Investors Care
| Released on 11/28/06 For Nov 2006 | ||||||||||||
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Highlights
Consumer confidence is edging backward, down to 102.9 in November from 105.1 in October. The decline is in line with months of weakness in expectations, a leading component which dipped back in November to 89.2 from 91.9. Readings on the jobs market, an important feature of the Conference Board report, were soft, led by a 6 tenth uptick to 22.4 percent for those who say jobs are hard to get. Buying plans for autos were very weak, down to 4.5 percent from 6.2 percent in October.
Inflation expectations continue to ease, down to 4.7 percent from 4.9 percent in the prior two months and an August peak of 5.5 percent. Declining gas prices have eased pressure on inflation expectations but they haven't done much to improve consumer spending or consumer confidence.
Confidence data aren't that closely followed at the Federal Reserve, but today's report fits in well with policy efforts to slow growth and ease inflation. Financial markets didn't react much to the report, which was released with firm existing home sales data.
The Conference Board's consumer confidence index edged down in October to 105.4 from 105.9 in September. This slippage was despite the expectations of a boost from lower gasoline prices and from notable gains in the stock market. Consumer confidence needs to firm somewhat to keep economic growth healthy enough to keep the soft landing from turning into a hard landing. Markets do expect a modest improvement in confidence to show up in the November numbers.
Consumer confidence Consensus Forecast for November 06: 106.4
Range: 105.0 to 108.0
![[Chart]](chart.gif)
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Typically retail sales will move in tandem with consumer optimism - although not necessarily each and every month. |
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