"The job market is healing, we're creating enough jobs to at least keep the unemployment rate stable"
- Ryan Sweet, a senior economist at Moody's Analytics
Confidence among U.S. consumers picked up much more than expected this month, as Americans shrugged off earlier worries over fiscal policy and tax increases, a report by the Conference Board showed Tuesday. A gauge of consumer attitudes accelerated to 69.6, from a downwardly revised 58.4 figure in January, topping analysts' expectations of a 60.8 reading. It was the first improvement in four months as well as the biggest gain since November 2011. Last month consumers were concerned over the impact of the so-called "fiscal cliff", and as tax increases and spending cuts that were scheduled to go into effect were averted, consumers are now feeling more optimistic about the economic outlook. At the same time, the expectations index climbed to 73.8, from 59.9, while the present situation index surged to 63.3, up from 56.2.
"The job market is healing, we're creating enough jobs to at least keep the unemployment rate stable," Ryan Sweet, a senior economist at Moody's Analytics in West Chester, Pennsylvania, said before the report.
"The shock effect caused by the fiscal cliff uncertainty and payroll tax cuts appears to have abated," Lynn Franco, director of The Conference Board Consumer Research Center, said in a statement.
© Dukascopy Bank SA