{"id":1238905,"date":"2022-01-25T12:53:10","date_gmt":"2022-01-25T17:53:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1238905"},"modified":"2022-01-25T12:53:20","modified_gmt":"2022-01-25T17:53:20","slug":"consumer-confidence-dragged-down-as-bidenflation-and-omicron-crush-hope","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/consumer-confidence-dragged-down-as-bidenflation-and-omicron-crush-hope\/","title":{"rendered":"Consumer Confidence Dragged Down As Bidenflation and Omicron Crush Hope"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">20<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fconsumer-confidence-dragged-down-as-bidenflation-and-omicron-crush-hope%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1238905&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/GettyImages-1365683682-640x335-1.jpg\" class=\"ff-og-image-inserted\" alt=\"image\" \/><\/div>\n<p class=\"subheading\">The economic confidence of U.S. households declined in January following three months of improving consumer morale at the end of last year, survey results released Tuesday showed.<\/p>\n<p>The Conference Board said its index of consumer confidence declined to 113.8 from 115.2 in December. That was slightly better than the 111.9 reading forecast by the Econoday poll.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"D-ROS-B1\" class=\"a8d\"><\/figure>\n<figure id=\"M-ROS-B1\" class=\"a8d\"><\/figure>\n<figure id=\"gmxrevmore\" class=\"H\"><\/figure>\n<p>Consumer confidence rose rapidly through the Trump years but was hammered by the onset of the pandemic and lockdowns. It rebounded last year with the deployment of vaccines but fell back down to depressed levels when the Delta variant wave of infections made it clear that we had not succeeded in moving beyond the pandemic.<\/p>\n<p>The January decline in confidence is the latest piece of evidence that the Omicron variant has battered the economy. Last week, the New York Fed\u2019s monthly survey of manufacturers <a href=\"https:\/\/www.breitbart.com\/economy\/2022\/01\/18\/new-york-fed-survey-shows-manufacturing-growth-abruptly-stalled\/\">indicated<\/a> that the sector had contracted. A similar survey from the Philadelphia Fed, however, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.breitbart.com\/economy\/2022\/01\/20\/philly-fed-inflation\/\">showed<\/a> that growth continued. On Tuesday, the Richmond Fed\u2019s survey showed that growth had softened by more than expected but did not peter out altogether. The \u201cflash\u201d survey of services and manufacturing purchasing managers from IHS Markit released Monday <a href=\"https:\/\/www.breitbart.com\/economy\/2022\/01\/24\/u-s-economy-slows-to-near-standstill-as-omicron-supply-chain-delays-and-inflation-surge\/\">indicated<\/a> that the economy had come to a \u201cnear standstill\u201d in January. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.breitbart.com\/economy\/2022\/01\/20\/omicron-unemployment\/\">Jobless claims have risen<\/a> and hotel occupancy is <a href=\"https:\/\/www.breitbart.com\/economy\/2022\/01\/21\/report-hotel-occupancy-falling-amid-omicron-surge\/\">falling<\/a>. Homebuilder <a href=\"https:\/\/www.breitbart.com\/\">confidence fell<\/a>&nbsp;despite a searingly hot market for homes and historically low levels of housing inventory available for sale.<\/p>\n<p>Even prior to the start of this year, economic growth appeared to be slumping. Single-family housing starts unexpectedly <a href=\"https:\/\/www.breitbart.com\/economy\/2022\/01\/19\/single-family-housing-starts-crash-as-bidenflation-sends-costs-soaring\/\">crashed<\/a> in December. Factory production suffered <a href=\"https:\/\/www.breitbart.com\/politics\/2022\/01\/14\/factory-production-unexpectedly-plunged-in-december-worsening-supply-constraints\/\">a sharp and surprising downturn<\/a>.&nbsp; And retail sales fell significantly, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.breitbart.com\/politics\/2022\/01\/14\/factory-production-unexpectedly-plunged-in-december-worsening-supply-constraints\/\">defying predictions<\/a> that consumers flush with cash would spend heavily in the final weeks of the holiday shopping season. Job growth in December <a href=\"https:\/\/www.breitbart.com\/economy\/2022\/01\/07\/another-disaster-u-s-economy-added-just-199000-jobs-in-december\/\">badly missed<\/a> expectations for over 400,000 jobs, coming in at just 199,000. In November, the U.S. trade deficit <a href=\"https:\/\/www.breitbart.com\/economy\/2022\/01\/06\/trade-deficit-jumps-19-4-to-second-highest-level-ever\/\">rose<\/a> to its second highest level ever, indicating that imports were draining income from the U.S. economy at a near-record rate.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"M-ROS-B2\" class=\"a8d\"><\/figure>\n<p>The omicron surge\u2019s infection appears to be far less virulent than earlier waves, inflicting serious disease on a far lower share of those who contract the coronavirus. But it appears to spread more easily. Due to quarantine rules and high levels of infection, millions are Americans are likely <a href=\"https:\/\/www.breitbart.com\/economy\/2022\/01\/10\/carney-the-great-quarantine-will-sideline-millions-of-american-workers-and-make-bidenflation-worse\/\">having to stay home from work<\/a> for several days at a time. That could limit economic output and make the inflation problem gripping the economy even worse. Fortunately, this is likely a temporary hit. New cases are already falling nationally and falling rapidly in areas like New York City where the omicron variant hit earliest.<\/p>\n<p>The \u201cpresent situation\u201d measure, which looks at how consumers feel about the economy right now, rose by 3.4 points to 148.2. This may be an indication that consumers are less worried about this wave of the pandemic than they were about earlier waves. Less burdensome restrictions in many areas of the country, such as Florida, may also be helping brighten the view of business conditions. The view of the strength of the labor market deteriorated slightly but a historically high number of Americans still stay jobs are easy to get.<\/p>\n<p>The expectations measure, which looks at what consumers expect six months from now, surprisingly weakened, falling to 90.8 from 95.4. Household forecasts about the labor market, business conditions, and income all dimmed.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe Present Situation Index improved, suggesting the economy entered the new year on solid footing. However, expectations about short-term growth prospects weakened, pointing to a likely moderation in growth during the first quarter of 2022. Nevertheless, the proportion of consumers planning to purchase homes, automobiles, and major appliances over the next six months all increased,\u201d said Lynn Franco, senior director of economic indicators the Conference Board.<\/p>\n<p>Worries about inflation declined for the second straight month, but remain elevated after hitting a 13-year high in November 2021, according to Franco.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cLooking ahead, both confidence and consumer spending may continue to be challenged by rising prices and the ongoing pandemic,\u201d Franco said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The economic confidence of U.S. households declined in January following three months of improving consumer morale at the end of last year, survey results released Tuesday showed. The Conference Board &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2315279,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1238905","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1238905","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1238905"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1238905\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2315279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1238905"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1238905"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1238905"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}