December 23, 2014
Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan: Consumer Sentiment Highest in Eight Years
ANN ARBOR – Consumer confidence reached its most favorable level in the December 2014 survey since the last cyclical peak was set in January 2007. The gains over the past several months have been primarily due to improving job and wage prospects, and more recently, to falling gasoline prices. Consumers held the most favorable long-term prospects for the national economy in the past decade. Importantly, the 2014 gains in jobs and wages were widespread across all population subgroups and regions. Overall, the data point toward a gain of about 3.0% in real consumer expenditures during 2015.