U.S. consumer confidence remains high in February

CHICAGO, March 2 (Xinhua) -- U.S. consumer sentiment index was 99.7 in February, up from 95.7 in January and 96.3 in February 2017.

U.S. consumer sentiment has remained at very favorable level for more than a year. The February level was just below the peak of 100.7 in October 2017, the highest level since 2004, according to the University of Michigan (UM) Surveys of Consumers.

Richard Curtin, a UM economist and director of the surveys, attributed the situation to expected gains in incomes, jobs and after-tax pay.

According to the survey, consumers anticipated that the unemployment rate would dip below four percent in 2018. Only modest gains in wages were anticipated, and inflation expectations have remained unchanged during the past few months.

More consumers reported that they had recently heard favorable news about recent economic developments in February than at any other time since 1984. Two-thirds of consumers reported changes in either tax policies or employment gains.

When asked to assess their financial situation, 54 percent of the consumers surveyed reported improved finances, the highest proportion since January 2000. Income gains of 2.2 percent were anticipated across all households, just below the 2017 peak of 2.3 percent, the highest since 2008. Among those under age 45, a median income increase of 4.2 percent was expected during the year ahead, down slightly from the 2017 peak of 4.8 percent.

Consumers do not anticipate a surge in the inflation rate anytime soon, Curtin said. When asked to explain their financial situation in the February survey, the fewest consumers in decades cited rising prices as a cause for declining living standards.

The Surveys of Consumers is a rotating panel survey based on a nationally representative sample that gives each household in the U.S. an equal probability of being selected. Enditem