It's difficult for consumers to feel optimistic when they're worried about jobs. Cutting interest rates or keeping them low makes almost no difference, despite what the Federal Reserve thinks. People need jobs, not bickering by the political class. Corporate America is not going to deliver jobs because consumers aren't driving enough demand. They can't because they're broke and wondering if they will have a job next month. Until the federal government gets its act together and delivers another stimulus that creates jobs, expect a lot more consumer sentiment reports like this.
The Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan's preliminary reading on the overall index on consumer sentiment edged up to 57.8 from 55.7 the month before, which had been the lowest level since November 2008. It topped the median forecast of 56.5 among economists polled by Reuters.
"Overall, the data indicate that a renewed downturn in consumer spending is as likely as not in the year ahead," survey director Richard Curtin said in a statement.
"Even without a downturn, consumer spending will not be strong enough to enable the rapid job growth that is needed to offset reduced long-term expectations."
