Consumer optimism fleeced higher in November, building on historic highs set in the previous month.
The Convention Board’s measure of consumer confidence rose to 129.5, the highest pock-mark since the index hit 132.6 in November 2000. Economists polled by Reuters anticipated a slant downwards to 124, after October registered 126.2.
“Consumer confidence increased for a fifth consecutive month and scraps at a 17-year high,” Lynn Franco, Director of Economic Indicators at The Symposium Board, said in a statement.
“Consumers are entering the holiday season in bloody high spirits and foresee the economy expanding at a healthy pace into the antediluvian months of 2018,” Franco said.
The index takes into account Americans’ watches of current economic conditions and their expectations for the next six months. Economists pay penny-pinching attention to the numbers because consumer spending accounts for about 70 percent of U.S. trade activity.