Washington (awp / dpa) – US consumer confidence rebounded in December, driven by the rise in incomes recorded in particular by the less wealthy households, and despite high inflation, according to the final estimate of the survey by the University of Michigan released Thursday.
The index measuring this confidence stood at 70.6 points, against 67.4 in November. This is a little better than expected by analysts, who expected 70.4 points.
“This increase is mainly due to the significant improvement noted in households in the bottom third of income,” commented in the press release Richard Curtin, the economist in charge of this survey widely followed by the markets.
The investigation, however, was carried out too early to reflect the impact of the spread of the Omicron variant on consumer morale, he said.
“Consumers’ assessment of their current finances has remained unchanged, at very low levels due to the erosion of their standard of living due to rising inflation,” said Richard Curtin.
Inflation in the United States is indeed, in November, at the highest since 1982, with prices which climbed, compared to last year, by 6.8% according to the CPI index, and by 5, 7% according to the PCE index.
The University of Michigan survey thus underlines that “one in four households specifically cited the negative impact of inflation on their standard of living”.
And the differences are strong, according to the political side, with Democrats who “anticipate far lower inflation rates than Republicans for the coming year”, but also “three times more Republicans than Democrats (who) cited the negative impact of inflation on their finances (47% vs. 16%) “.
Democratic President Joe Biden said inflation was one of his government’s main concerns. But the Republican opposition accuses him of having an inflationary policy, and denounces the gigantic plan of environmental and social reforms, including 1.750 billion dollars of investment over 10 years, that Joe Biden wants to pass.
He still hopes to be able to save him, despite the veto imposed on Sunday by Joe Manchin, a Democratic senator whose vote is essential for the adoption of this plan, but who has said he fears that these expenses will only fuel inflation.
afp/rp
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