CNN/Money 
News > Jobs & Economy
graphic
Michigan sentiment revised up
Closely watched measure of consumer confidence stronger than expected in January.
January 30, 2004: 10:01 AM EST

NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - A closely watched measure of consumer confidence in the United States surged in January, according to a published report Friday, beating Wall Street expectations.

The University of Michigan's preliminary consumer sentiment index for January jumped to a revised 103.8 from 92.6 in December, according to market sources quoted by Reuters. Economists, on average, expected a reading of 103, compared with an initial reading of 103.2, according to Briefing.com.

It was the highest level for the index since 107.6 in November 2000, months before the official beginning of the last recession in March 2001.

YOUR E-MAIL ALERTS
Consumer Confidence
Economic Indicators

The university's current conditions index, which measures the way consumers feel about the present state of the economy, surged to a revised 109.5, the highest since 110.5 in December 2000, from 97 in December.

The expectations index, measuring consumer's hopes for the near future, rose to a revised 100.1 from 89.8 in December.

U.S. stock prices improved slightly after the report and were mixed in early trading. Treasury bond prices were mostly higher.

Wall Street pays close attention to consumers, whose spending makes up more than two-thirds of the total economy. Fueled by tax rebate checks and cash from a wave of mortgage refinancing, consumers hit the malls with gusto in the third quarter, pushing economic growth to the fastest annual pace in nearly 20 years.

But those stimulative effects faded in the fourth quarter, and the pace of consumer spending growth slowed down. On Friday, the Commerce Department said consumption grew at a 2.6-percent annualized pace in the fourth quarter, well below the third quarter's 6.9-percent rate.

In any event, consumers don't always spend the way they feel. Confidence plunged after the terror attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, for example, but consumers still managed to make their way to auto dealers and buy cars at zero-percent financing.  Top of page




  More on NEWS
JPMorgan dramatically slashes Tesla's stock price forecast
Greece is finally done with its epic bailout binge
Europe is preparing another crackdown on Big Tech
  TODAY'S TOP STORIES
7 things to know before the bell
SoftBank and Toyota want driverless cars to change the world
Aston Martin falls 5% in its London IPO




graphic graphic

Most stock quote data provided by BATS. Market indices are shown in real time, except for the DJIA, which is delayed by two minutes. All times are ET. Disclaimer. Morningstar: © 2018 Morningstar, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Factset: FactSet Research Systems Inc. 2018. All rights reserved. Chicago Mercantile Association: Certain market data is the property of Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc. and its licensors. All rights reserved. Dow Jones: The Dow Jones branded indices are proprietary to and are calculated, distributed and marketed by DJI Opco, a subsidiary of S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC and have been licensed for use to S&P Opco, LLC and CNN. Standard & Poor's and S&P are registered trademarks of Standard & Poor's Financial Services LLC and Dow Jones is a registered trademark of Dow Jones Trademark Holdings LLC. All content of the Dow Jones branded indices © S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC 2018 and/or its affiliates.

Most stock quote data provided by BATS. Market indices are shown in real time, except for the DJIA, which is delayed by two minutes. All times are ET. Disclaimer. Morningstar: © 2018 Morningstar, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Factset: FactSet Research Systems Inc. 2018. All rights reserved. Chicago Mercantile Association: Certain market data is the property of Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc. and its licensors. All rights reserved. Dow Jones: The Dow Jones branded indices are proprietary to and are calculated, distributed and marketed by DJI Opco, a subsidiary of S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC and have been licensed for use to S&P Opco, LLC and CNN. Standard & Poor's and S&P are registered trademarks of Standard & Poor's Financial Services LLC and Dow Jones is a registered trademark of Dow Jones Trademark Holdings LLC. All content of the Dow Jones branded indices © S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC 2018 and/or its affiliates.