Consumer Confidence in America Continues to Be Strong

Tuesday, 01 February 2011 18:13

Written by Julius

As big name corporations like Microsoft and General Motors (GM) reported solid improvements on their sales and revenues, it is pretty clear that consumer confidence all over America remains strong. Just last month, about 820,000 cars and trucks were bought by consumers and the figure marks a 17% leap over what was sold in the same month from 2009. Not only that, a bull run in stock market is making waves around the world as more companies reported strongly positive results of their respective businesses.

In a private sector report released recently, economists stated that there is a rising tide of optimism among consumers as well as improved labor conditions. In another report, the Conference Board reported that its consumer index reached a score of 60.6 as of last month. The figure is a remarkable improvement over the 53.3 rating reported last December. Recently, the National Association for Business Economics indicated that the number of business firms planning to hire more employees is now at a 12-year high based on their survey.

The improved consumer confidence of the last several months is not just benefiting businesses. In fact, state tax revenues in the 4th quarter of 2010 jumped by around seven percent based on a study that covered 41 states. If the reported revenues continue that pace with the inclusion of more states, they would most likely end up as the strongest gains since the 2nd quarter of 2006. Still some skeptics believe that the high riding consumer confidence will weaken somewhat if unemployment worsens and global oil prices spike.