U.S. consumer confidence jumps most in four years

U.S. consumer confidence surged in May, driven by optimism about the economy and job market. The Conference Board’s confidence index jumped 12.3 points to 98, the largest monthly increase in four years, surpassing all forecasts in a Bloomberg News economist survey.:
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A gauge of consumer expectations for the next six months surged by the most since 2011, while a measure of present conditions climbed as well, data released Tuesday showed. The improvement in confidence was broad across age and income groups as well as political affiliations, with the strongest gains among Republicans.
The cutoff for the survey was May 19, after the US and China agreed to temporarily reduce high levies on each other’s goods while they negotiate a trade deal. About half the responses were collected after the agreement was reached on May 12, according to a statement.
“The rebound was already visible before the May 12 US-China trade deal but gained momentum afterwards,” Stephanie Guichard, senior economist at The Conference Board, said in the statement.
Consumers’ outlook for the stock market improved in the survey, coinciding with a 5.8% gain in the S&P 500 so far this month.
“The book is far from closed on tariffs, as we saw over the past few days with the threat of 50% tariffs for the EU, but financial markets seem ready to move past it, and these numbers suggest that households may be moving in that direction as well,” Stephen Stanley, chief economist at Santander US Capital Markets, said in a note.
Consumers were more upbeat about the outlook for business conditions, the job market and their incomes. As a result, larger shares of consumers said they plan to buy cars, homes and major appliances as well as take vacations over the coming six months.

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MacDailyNews Take: A surge in consumer confidence in Apple’s largest market bodes well.

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