Consumer Confidence at 53.1 is below the estimate of 57 and down from 54.5 in Aug. It is well off the low of 25.3 in Feb ’09 but the improvement seen is almost all in Expectations. Present Situations (how people feel today as opposed to their belief about the future) fell almost 3 pts to 22.7 and is less than 1 pt from the low in March which was the lowest since ’83. Expectations fell .5 point to 73.3 and but is well off the low of 27.3 seen in Feb. Those that said jobs were Plentiful fell to 3.4 from 4.3 and its the lowest since ’83. Those that said jobs were Hard to Get rose almost 3 pts to 47, just shy of the highest since ’92. Thus, the jobs picture is still tough. With the tax credit about to expire (maybe), those that plan to buy a home within 6 mo’s fell .7 to 2.3, just shy of its lowest level since ’82. Post Clunker’s, those than plan to buy a car within 6 mo’s fell almost 1 pt to the lowest since Mar ’09.
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