Consumer confidence rebounds amid inflation, bank crisis
Survey: Uptick in confidence reflects improved outlook for consumers under 55 and for households earning $50,000 and over
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U.S. consumers were more confident in March despite a string of banking failures and the Federal Reserve raising interest rates once again to cool persistent inflationary pressures.
A survey from the Conference Board on Tuesday showed the Consumer Confidence Index went up slightly in March, rising to 104.2 from 103.4 in February.
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Meanwhile, the Present Situation Index, a gauge based on consumers’ assessment of current business and labor market conditions, slipped to 151.1 from 153 last month, while the Expectations Index, a measurement of consumers’ short-term outlook for income, business, and labor market condition, jumped to 73 from 70.4 in February.
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Ataman Ozyildirim, senior director of Economics at The Conference Board, said in a statement, "The uptick in consumer confidence reflects an improved outlook for consumers under 55 years of age and for households earning $50,000 and over."
A man shops for meat at a Safeway grocery store in Annapolis, Md, May 16, 2022, as Americans brace for summer sticker shock as inflation continues to grow. (Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images / Getty Images)
"While consumers feel a bit more confident about what’s ahead, they are slightly less optimistic about the current landscape," he added. "The share of consumers saying jobs are ‘plentiful’ fell, while the share of those saying jobs are ‘not so plentiful’ rose."
"The latest results also reveal that their expectations of inflation over the next 12 months remains elevated — at 6.3%," while "overall purchasing plans for appliances continued to soften while automobile purchases increased slightly," Ozyildirim finished.
FED FORGES AHEAD WITH 25 BASIS POINT INTEREST RATE INCREASE
This March, the Federal Reserve announced another 25-basis point interest rate increase, Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) and Signature Bank collapsed, erasing billions of market value in financial stocks, while First Republic Bank struggles to stay in business even after a $30 billion lifeline from other financial institutions.
This week, First Citizens began acquiring assets from Silicon Valley Bank.
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Reuters contributed to this report.