Bags are displayed in the window of a Kate Spade store in Pittsburgh on Monday, Jan. 30, 2023. On Tuesday, the Conference Board reports on U.S. consumer confidence for February. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)
Higher-income consumers are feeling better about the economy, and their optimism is helping lift the Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index.
The index, which tracks consumers' expectations of business and labor market conditions, increased slightly to 104.2 in March, up from 103.4 the month before.
"Driven by an uptick in expectations, consumer confidence improved somewhat in March, but remains below the average level seen in 2022 (104.5)," said Ataman Ozyildirim, senior director of economics at The Conference Board, in a press release. "The gain reflects an improved outlook for consumers under 55 years of age and for households earning $50,000 and over."
He added that while consumers are more optimistic about the near future, they are less sure about the current economy.
"The share of consumers saying jobs are 'plentiful' fell, while the share of those saying jobs are 'not so plentiful' rose," Ozyildirim said.
The index showed that consumers expect to spend less on discretionary purchases, such as entertainment and dining out, and more on less discretionary purchases, such as health care and home repairs.
Ford Motor Co. is resuming construction on a Michigan electric vehicle battery plant that the company postponed two months ago during a strike by the United Auto Workers union.
The marketing slogan for Stanley Tumbler flask products is built for life and it looks like one video proves that to be true after a woman showed her burned-out car on TikTok along with her Tumbler cup, which was left undamaged.
Nvidia's stock closed at an all-time high Monday at above $504 a share, ahead of the company's latest quarterly earnings report which is due out later Tuesday.
The CEOs of three popular tech companies have been subpoenaed by the Senate Judiciary Committee, which ordered the heads of Discord, Snap and X to testify at a hearing on protecting children online.
'X' owner Elon Musk says he is suing watchdog group Media Matters after the group published an analysis writing that the social media company was placing advertisements from several brands next to anti-Semitic content.
