Per Lynn Franco of the Conference Board, this was “primarily due to a less optimistic view of future business conditions and personal income prospects.” Analysts believe that this is a reflection of the recent stock market turbulence and concerns about trade conflicts and rising interest rates.
Robust Labor Market Fuels Consumer Resilience
The need to closely monitor consumer sentiment stems from the fact that consumer expenditure makes up nearly two-thirds of U.S. GDP. Currently, consumer spending is in ruddy health, increasing at a 4% annual pace from July to September, the fastest pace since late 2017.
Robust consumer spending is in turn fueled by a strong labor market. Currently, the unemployment rate is near a 50-year low of 3.7%. This is exactly why the number of respondents, who believe jobs are “plentiful” increased from 45.4% to 46.6%, the largest share since January 2001.
According to Franco, “consumers are still quite confident that economic growth will continue at a solid pace into early 2019.” Analysts believe that despite a small slip in confidence and a recognition that economic growth may be slowing, consumers remain upbeat. The resilience in consumer spending is the best indicator of their confidence.
- Consumer Confidence Falls But Remains Robust, Yahoo.com, November 28, 2018.
3. It's hard not to love Chardonnay – the grape that is virtually synonymous with the phrase "white wine" – so how good are the very best ones? And, more importantly, which ones are the very best?
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