Friday, May 28, 2010

May Consumer Confidence Up More Than Expected

Consumer confidence increased in May to 73.6, according to the University of Michigan's report today.  That was 1.4 points above April's reading of 72.2, and except for January's index level of 74.4, the highest confidence level since January 2008.  Reviewing the history of the Michigan Index back to 1978 in the graph above, consumer confidence was actually lower during the 1980 recession than in the most recent 2008-2009 recession.   

2 Comments:

At 5/28/2010 5:24 PM, Anonymous morganovich said...

of course, in absolute terms, it's still at the lowest level in 18 years (apart from the recent recession).

absolute levels here matter a great deal, not just change. dropping your fever from 104 to 102 doesn't mean you're ready to go play tennis.

 
At 5/28/2010 7:15 PM, Blogger Junkyard_hawg1985 said...

Like the 4-week moving average for first time unemployment claims, the Michigan consumer confidence level has rebounded to where is was in 1981 - the middle of the "W".

 

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