Consumer confidence jumps

Consumer confidence is on the up and up.

According to the Conference Board's measure, the consumer confidence index jumped to 96.5 in December from 92.6 in November.

This was stronger than the 93.5 expected by economists.

“Consumer confidence improved in December, following a moderate decrease in November,” The Conference Board’s Lynn Franco said. “As 2015 draws to a close, consumers’ assessment of the current state of the economy remains positive, particularly their assessment of the job market. Looking ahead to 2016, consumers are expecting little change in both business conditions and the labor market. Expectations regarding their financial outlook are mixed, but the optimists continue to outweigh the pessimists.”

Among other things, the percentage of respondents anticipating more jobs in the months ahead increased to 12.9% from 12.0%.

Refresh this page for updates... or read more here