US consumer sentiment, expectations increase in December

By Ovunc Kutlu

ANKARA (AA) - US consumer sentiment and expectations increased in December, according to data Thursday that was released by the University of Michigan.

The index of consumer sentiment rose 3.2 points to 70.6 from 67.4 November, according to final results from a survey compiled from around 500 consumers.

The index of current economic conditions also rose 0.6 points to 74.2, up from 73.6 during the previous month.

The index of consumer expectations also increased 4.8 points to 68.3, rising from 63.5 in November.

"The uptick was primarily due to significant gains among households with incomes in the bottom third of the distribution," Richard Curtin, chief economist with Surveys of Consumers, said in a statement.

"The bottom third expected their incomes to rise during the year ahead by 2.8%, up from 1.8% last December," he said. "There have only been five times in the past half century that income expectations among low income households have exceeded the December 2021 level."

Curtin, however, noted that consumers' evaluations of their current finances remained unchanged at lower levels due to the erosion of living standards from rising inflation.