(Washington) Consumer confidence improved slightly in February in the United States, with the recent moderation in inflation giving some hope despite still high price inflation, with fears of a possible rise in unemployment in the next months.
The index gained 2.3% compared to January, and stood at 66.4 points, according to the preliminary estimate from the University of Michigan published Friday. This is better than expected, since analysts saw the index rise to 65 points only, according to the consensus of Briefing.com.
“Overall, high prices continue to weigh on consumers despite the recent moderation in inflation,” commented Joanne Hsu, director of the survey, quoted in the press release.
“This coupled with concerns about rising unemployment on the horizon, consumers are poised to be more cautious about their spending in the months ahead,” she adds.
In detail, only the index measuring the perception of current economic conditions climbed compared to January, by 6.1%, to 72.6 points, while that measuring consumer expectations fell by 0.6%, falling to 62.3 points.
Consumers are less optimistic than last month on the trajectory of inflation in the short term, they anticipate a slower slowdown.
“The uncertainty surrounding short-term inflation expectations has increased recently and continues to be particularly high. […] On the other hand, uncertainty about long-term inflation has diminished in recent months,” explains Joanne Hsu.
Inflation fell in December to 6.5% over one year in the United States, according to the CPI index, on which pensions are indexed.
January figures will be released on Tuesday.
The US central bank, the Fed, which is trying to bring price increases back to around 2%, has warned that the game is far from won, and that rates should continue to climb, and remain high at least until the end of the year.
This pushes commercial banks to offer loans with high interest rates, thus discouraging consumption, to reduce pressure on prices.