The Conference Board announced on Tuesday its U.S. consumer confidence went
down 1.4 points to 113.8 in January 2022 from a downwardly revised 115.2 (from
115.8) in December 2021. This marked the first decline in consumer confidence after three months of
increases.
Economists had expected consumer confidence to come in at 111.8.
The details of the survey revealed that the decline in the headline
index was due to a decrease in the expectations index, which dropped 4.6 points
to 90.8 this month. Meanwhile, the present situation index rose 3.4 points to
148.2.
Commenting on the results of the last survey, Lynn Franco, Senior
Director of Economic Indicators at The Conference Board, said that an advance
in the present situation index suggested that the economy entered 2022 on solid
footing, while a deterioration in expectations pointed to a likely moderation
in growth in the first quarter of the year. Also, he noted that inflation concerns
weakened for the second consecutive month, but were still elevated after hitting a
13-year high last November.