Consumers jittery about inflation and income

by Jen Wed Mar 30, 2011 12:19 pm

Consumers jittery about inflation and income
http://money.cnn.com/2011/03/29/news/economy/consumer_confidence/index.htm

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- Americans are becoming less confident about
spending their hard-earned money as inflation concerns rise and the
outlook for personal income remains cloudy, according to a survey
released Tuesday.The Conference Board, a New York-based business
research group, said its Consumer Confidence Index for March fell to
63.4 from 72 in February. That was the lowest reading since December,
when the index also registered 63.4.

Economists were expecting the index to fall to 65, according to consensus estimates from Briefing.com. "Consumers'
inflation expectations rose significantly in March and their income
expectations soured," said Lynn Franco, director of the Conference
Board's consumer research center. That combination, she added, "will
likely impact spending decisions."While the U.S. economy has
improved, the nation's job market remains sluggish and prices for a
variety of consumer staples have been going up. In particular, gas
prices have risen sharply this year, driven higher by a surge in the
price of crude oil.In addition to higher energy costs, household
budgets have been strained by rising food prices. A combination of bad
weather in many parts of the world and growing global demand have pushed
up prices for agricultural commodities such as corn and wheat. That has
led to higher prices for breakfast cereals, while more expensive feed
grains have lifted meat prices. "The recent acceleration in
inflationary pressures, particularly related to food and fuel prices, is
likely to weigh on discretionary spending if it persists," said Jim
Baird, chief investment strategist for Plante Moran Financial Advisors.
"Today's report illustrated that consumer fear about future inflation is
picking up, even as they became more skeptical about future income
growth."

I heard on the news this morning something about consumer confidence is at an all time low. For some reason, the articles are buried and I had to search a lot to find it and it doesn't say anything about it being an all time low. Hmm, I wonder why that is. Evil or Very Mad

It's usually on the front page of all of them every month.

by KeeptheFaith Wed Mar 30, 2011 12:38 pm

Jen wrote:I heard on the news this morning something about consumer confidence is at an all time low. For some reason, the articles are buried and I had to search a lot to find it and it doesn't say anything about it being an all time low. Hmm, I wonder why that is. It's usually on the front page of all of them every month.

They are going to try and hide it because they do not want that kind of information to be released...they want to paint a rosy picture....that everything is fine....the economy is improving....employers are creating jobs.....and everything is great.....

Consumers jittery about inflation and income

Consumers jittery about inflation and income

Re: Consumers jittery about inflation and income