Recent Updates
- Korea: PPI, Domestic Supply Price and Total Output Price Indexes (Feb)
- US: Manufacturers' Shipments Inventories & Orders (Jan), ECEC (Q4)
- Finland: Visitor Arrivals (Jan)
- Albania: Trade by Country, HICP (Feb)
- South Africa: Selected Building Statistics (Jan)
- Mauritius: PPI (Q4)
- Israel: Inflation Expectations (Mar), Trade by Commodity (Feb)
- more updates...
Economy in Brief
U.S. Gasoline & Crude Oil Prices Continue to Rise
Retail gasoline prices increased to $2.55 per gallon (-1.9% y/y)...
ZEW's Global Assessments Remain Weak
ZEW survey expectations curled higher this month but continued to stake out very weak readings...
U.S. Home Builder Sentiment Remains Improved
The NAHB-Wells Fargo Composite Housing Market Index held steady at 62 during March...
EMU Trade Surplus Expands on Weak Import Rise
In the EMU, both import and export gains were modest in January...
U.S. JOLTS: Job Openings Remain Abundant
The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that the total job openings rate increased to 4.8% during January...
by Tom Moeller January 30, 2007
Consumer confidence increased a modest 0.3% in January, according to the Conference Board Survey, following an upwardly revised 4.5% December gain. The increase was to the highest level since March 2002.
The reading of present conditions rose a firmer 2.6% after the 4.1% December increase as the percentage of respondents who viewed business conditions as good rose to 28.1%, the highest since last May. The percentage who viewed jobs as plentiful also rose to 29.9%, the highest since 2001. 
Expectations, however, reversed nearly half of the December gain with a 1.9% decline. Expectations about future income fell the hardest, offset by an uptick in expected employment conditions.
The expected inflation rate in twelve months ticked lower to 4.7%, that was versus expectations during all of last year for a 5.1% rate of inflation in twelve months.
Monetary Policy Inertia and Recent Fed Actions from the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco can be found here.
| Conference Board (SA, 1985=100) |
January | December | Y/Y | 2006 | 2005 | 2004 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Consumer Confidence Index | 110.3 | 110.0 | 3.3% | 105.9 | 100.3 | 96.1 |
| Present Conditions | 133.9 | 130.5 | 4.0% | 130. | 116.1 | 94.9 |
| Expectations | 94.5 | 96.3 | 2.6% | 89.7 | 89.7 | 96.9 |
