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Consumer Confidence Increases Despite Lingering Debt Problems

Posted by Lisa Blackwell on February 14 2011 @ 7:05 am

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Consumers are more confident in February than in previous months, a new survey finds. Despite the fact that many common economic problems, such as debt, foreclosure and credit card charge offs, are affecting just as many Americans as in previous months, overall confidence is on the rise, according to a new study.

A new survey, conducted jointly by the University of Michigan and Thomson Reuters, found that consumer sentiment rose to 75.1 in February, up from the 74.2 observed during January.

Among the reasons cited for the increase were rising stock prices and the recent declines in unemployment. Economists had expected the index to adjust accordingly; however, the overall increase was one point greater than the 75 predicted in an earlier news survey.

"2011 has started with a couple of factors that were completely absent in 2010, and one of them is confidence," Tom Porcelli, chief U.S. economist at RBC Capital Markets Corp., told Bloomberg. "Now confidence is starting to come back."

In recent months, consumers showed a renewed willingness to take on debt, as the number of credit card transactions observed by issuers increased substantially during the holiday season.