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Consumer confidence was able to break a three month streak of declines by inching slightly higher during the month of March. While it is great to see consumers gaining a little bit of confidence again, it is still too early to get carried away. Currently, The Consumer Confidence Index is sitting at 26. This is above the 25.3 reading in February, but below the anticipated 28 that analysts had been predicting.
Americans have plenty of reasons for their shaky confidence these days. The stock market has been wiping out a lot of people's retirement accounts, and the housing market is still looking for direction. Combine those with daily news of an ailing auto industry that is on the brink of collapse, and confidence has to be affected to some level.
We may be higher than in February, but we must also consider that as recently as January the reading was up at 37.4.
The irony is that it is going to take a considerable boost of consumer confidence to help turn the economy around. But the question is how to boost consumer confidence before the economy rebounds. It's a tough situation, and one that the Obama administration is working hard to solve.
So far we are seeing some rays of light in the economy. While there is no doubt that we are still dealing with a recession, there do seem to be hints of life. While these signals are definitely present, they are subtle, and not yet strong enough to change the consumer's mindset.
How is your view of the economy? Do you believe Obama is leading us in the right direction, or do you feel his policies are actually hurting the economy? Let us hear your thoughts!
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
3-31-2009 @ 5:55PM
gordonrigsby said...
I have complete faith the President Obama's ability to lead through this refirmation process. For too long we overspent, housing was grossly inflated, and the wealthy made too much profit while the middle class stayed even. Too many of us are overweight and lazy. We must begin eating less, excercising more and taking care of the poor and hungry. The wealthy should gladly pay more taxes to help turn our economy around and they will get their money back after the country gets back on course.