Richard Curtin. Image courtesy of D.C. Goings
ANN ARBOR, Mich-Confidence remained strong in February due to a record number of consumers who were aware of ongoing increases in jobs, according to University of Michigan economist Richard Curtin, director of the Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan Surveys of Consumers. The Surveys, conducted by the U-M Institute for Social Research (ISR), have been monitoring consumer attitudes and expectations for more than 60 years. February marked the sixth consecutive month of gains in the Sentiment Index as consumers became more positive about prospects for the economy. "Unfortunately, too few consumers have benefited from the recent job gains to alter their otherwise grim evaluations of their own finances," said Curtin. "Most past recoveries have exhibited the same pattern of optimistic expectations about the economy in advance of personal financial optimism, although the current gap is larger and can be expected to last longer than typical due to the length and depth of the downturn as well as the slow recovery that is anticipated. Overall, the data indicate inflation-adjusted personal consumption expenditures can be expected to grow by 2.3% in 2012." - "Consumers have shrugged off concerns about rising gas prices, the European crisis, and election year politics, preferring to focus on the favorable impact of job growth," said Curtin. "A potential threat is that consumers expect too much too soon.
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