Why are consumers confident of their prospects in January with Omicron still infecting so many, according to the Conference Board’s latest Consumer Confidence survey?
The Omicron variant may be waning, for starters. As of January 19, 2022, the current 7-day moving average of daily new cases (744,616) decreased 5.0% compared with the previous 7-day moving average (783,922).
Covid Tracker
And there are plenty of available jobs with rising salaries. There were 10.6 million job openings at the end of November, reports the Labor Department.
“Reuters said of the Conference Board survey: “The job availability indexes remained near the exceptionally strong levels of recent months, and perceptions about current business conditions in general improved. Other household sentiment indicators on balance have been softer this month, but that gloom did not extend to the Conference Board survey.”
The share of consumers planning to buy a motor vehicle over the next six months was the largest in six months. Buying intentions for household appliances like television sets and refrigerators also rose, though plans to purchase washing machines and clothes dryers fell, according to the survey.
So, consumers are still in a spending mood. The US Census Bureau reported last week that retail sales were up 14.4 percent YoY in December, seasonally adjusted.
The Omicron variant and high inflation (and rising interest rates) are still worrisome to consumers, however. Inflation as measured by the retail CPI index has risen 7.1 percent in December YoY, its highest rate in 40 years.
And the financial markets are worried about effects of a possible war in Eastern Europe that could slow growth in the European Union.
So what is keeping consumers in the game, from not crawling back into their winter shelters with so much to worry about? Maybe it is fans wanting to attend their favorite athletic events again, such as the upcoming Super Bowl! Why are football stadiums packed, even with freezing temperatures, as in Green Bay with snow on the ground?
Americans seemed to want to return to a more normal way of life, amid growing evidence that the worst of the pandemic is over.
Harlan Green © 2022
Follow Harlan Green on Twitter: https://twitter.com/HarlanGreen
No comments:
Post a Comment