December consumer confidence slips
WASHINGTON — Americans were a bit less confident about the economy this month than they were in November, but their spirits remained high overall during the holiday shopping season.
The Conference Board said Wednesday that its consumer confidence index dipped to 122.1 this month from a revised 128.6 in November.
“Despite the decline in confidence, consumers’ expectations remain at historically strong levels, suggesting economic growth will continue well into 2018,” said Conference Board economist Lynn Franco.
The business research group’s index measures consumers’ assessment of current conditions and their outlook for the next six months. Their view of today’s conditions rose to
the highest level since June 2001. But their expectations were the lowest since November 2016.
Economists watch the Conference Board report closely because consumer spending accounts for about 70 percent of U.S. economic output.
Forecasters had predicted the index would drop this month from November’s heights, but it fell more than expected. “This is an unexpected sign of weakness from the biggest driver of U.S. economic growth,” Jennifer Lee, senior economist at BMO Capital Markets, wrote in a research report. “I’m not convinced it will play out into weaker consumer spending but this is clearly worth watching.”
The overall index hit bottom at 25.3 in February 2009 at the depths of the recession before rebounding as the U.S. economy recovered.
In what might be a good sign for the real estate market, a solid 7.6 percent of survey respondents said they planned to buy a home in the next six months. More Americans have been shopping for homes as the economy improves.
Economic growth clocked in at a solid 3.2 percent annual pace from July through September after registering 3.1 percent in the second quarter. Unemployment has dropped to a 17-year-low 4.1 percent. based in Israel.”
Teva’s most immediate problem is its $35 billion debt. The company is so squeezed for cash that it might have to renegotiate deals with banks and even bondholders, said Sabina Levy, the head of research at Leader Capital Markets, an Israeli brokerage.
“There are not a lot of other things the company can do right now,” she said. “They can’t bring another growth driver into the company in a short period of time. And they don’t have the cash to buy a growth driver. The only thing they can do is cut costs.”