Consumer Confidence at 17-Year High

Consumer confidence increased for a fifth consecutive month and remains at at an extremely high level, reports The Conference Board. The composite value of consumer confidence in November was 129.5 up from 126.2 in October. The last nine months have each been better than at any time since 2001. The three-month moving average (3MMA) increased from 122.4 in October to 125.4 in November, which was 20.9 points higher than in November last year. Consumer’s view of the present situation has been surging since the middle of last year. Consumer confidence is the driver of consumer spending, which is the largest component of GDP and which ultimately drives a large portion of steel consumption.

The source of this data is the Conference Board with analysis by Steel Market Update. Please see the end of this piece for the official news release from the Conference Board and an explanation of the indicator.