US Consumer Confidence rebounds in February

The US Consumer Confidence Index rebounded in February after it recorded a decline in January, a report showed here Tuesday. The Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index rebounded in February, where the Index now stands at 69.6, up from 58.4 in January. The Present Situation Index increased to 63.3 from 56.2, while the Expectations Index improved to 73.8 from 59.9 last month. Director of Economic Indicators at The Conference Board Lynn Franco said in a statement that "Consumer Confidence rebounded in February as the shock effect caused by the fiscal cliff uncertainty and payroll tax cuts appears to have abated." Franco added that "consumers' assessment of current business and labor market conditions is more positive than last month." "Looking ahead, consumers are cautiously optimistic about the outlook for business and labor market conditions. Income expectations, which had turned rather negative last month, have improved modestly," Franco stressed. Meanwhile, consumers' assessment of present day conditions improved in February. Those claiming business conditions are "good" rose to 18.1 percent from 16.1 percent, while those stating business conditions are "bad" decreased to 27.8 percent from 28.4 percent. Also, consumers' appraisal of the labor market was mixed. Those saying jobs are "plentiful" increased to 10.5 percent from 8.5 percent, while those claiming jobs are "hard to get" edged up to 37.0 percent from 36.6 percent