U.S. Consumer Confidence Improves Much More Than Expected In October

(RTTNews) - A report released by the Conference Board on Tuesday showed a substantial improvement by U.S. consumer confidence in the month of October.

The Conference Board said its consumer confidence index surged to 108.7 in October after tumbling to a revised 99.2 in September.

Economists had expected the consumer confidence index to inch up to 99.1 from the 98.7 originally reported for the previous month.

"Consumer confidence recorded the strongest monthly gain since March 2021, but still did not break free of the narrow range that has prevailed over the past two years," said Dana M. Peterson, Chief Economist at The Conference Board.

She added, "The proportion of consumers anticipating a recession over the next 12 months dropped to its lowest level since the question was first asked in July 2022, as did the percentage of consumers believing the economy was already in recession."

The Conference Board said the present situation index, which is based on consumers' assessment of current business and labor market conditions, spiked to 138.0 in October from 123.8 in September.

The expectations index, which is based on consumers' short-term outlook for income, business, and labor market conditions, also jumped to 89.1 in October from 82.8 in September, coming in well above the threshold of 80 that usually signals a recession ahead.

Last Friday, the University of Michigan released revised data showing consumer sentiment in the U.S. unexpectedly improved in the month of October.

The University of Michigan said its consumer sentiment index for October was upwardly revised to 70.5 from a preliminary reading of 68.9. Economists had expected the index to be upwardly revised slightly to 69.0.

With the bigger than expected upward revision, the consumer sentiment index is now modestly above the final September reading of 70.1.

The consumer sentiment index has now increased for the third consecutive month, reaching its highest level since hitting 77.2 in April.