September Sees a Rise in Consumer Confidence
Stocks moved higher today after a report indicated that consumer confidence was up from the nine-month low of 100.2 in August. Economists had predicted the measurement would increase to 102.7. The actual figure of 104.5 came as a welcome boon to Wall Street.

Analysts pointed to an overall lessening of consumer pessimism as well as the recent drop in gasoline prices as underlying factors in the better than expected numbers. Over the past seven weeks the retail price of gasoline has come down 21 percent to approximately $2.43 a gallon, a welcome relief from the $3 rates seen in July and August.

In terms of consumer pessimism, those Americans who said they expected the overall business conditions in the nation to worsen in the coming six months came down from the August level of 12.9 percent to just 10.6 percent in September. Real optimism, however, seems hard to come by with those expecting business conditions to improve in the same period remaining at the previous level of 16.3%.

Those Americans anticipating inflationary conditions next year fell to 4.9% down from 5.5 percent, the lowest number reported since March. Americans ready to characterize jobs as "plentiful" came up to 25.9 percent from 24.5 percent, but at the same time those citizens who found jobs "hard to get" edged up slightly from the previous level of 21.2 percent to 21.3 percent.

Other indices on the rise included the present situation index which increased to 127.7 up from an August level of 123.0. The expectations index, taken as a sound indicator of consumer spending numbers, hit 89.0 up from 84.4 in August, marking the highest level posted since April.

Although these numbers are encouraging, the director of consumer research for the Confidence Board cautioned that little substantive change was in the offing for U.S. economic activity in the fourth quarter of 2006.