US consumer confidence rebounds in December

After posting negative readings in November, the Conference Board's index of consumer confidence rose to 96.5 in December, above the forecast (92.4) and that of the consensus (93.5). The November reading for the headline index was revised up to 92.6 (initial: 90.4) with this morning's release.

The present situation index rose to 115.3 (previous: 110.9), and expectations increased to 83.9 (previous: 80.4). This renewed optimism in the economy seems to have been driven by a December rebound in consumers outlook for labor markets. The labor market differential, which measures the share of consumers who thought jobs were plentiful less those who thought they were hard to get, rose to -0.6 from -4.8 last month.

"The December rise puts labor market confidence back near its September level. This rebound in labor-market sentiment also led consumers to increase their income expectations, net income expectations for the next six months rose to 6.6 from 5.5 in November", says Barclays.

Despite the improvement in labor conditions, business conditions deteriorated slightly. The net share of respondents rating current business conditions as positive fell to 4.2 (previous: 5.1). Buying plans for autos (10.5, previous: 12.7) and houses (5.8, previous: 6.0) also deteriorated a touch.