The personal financial status of American consumers is on the rise – the Employment Index is at 50.6, up from 50.4 the prior month. Coming down from 63.5 in April to 53.0, the Consumer Reports Trouble Tracker Index showed a great improvement as fewer people faced problems paying bills.
Overall, U.S. retail sales are up and industrial production is clamoring ahead, according to reports out today. Consumers also grew slightly more confident early this month, adding to the string of upbeat data on Friday, despite the worries about Europe’s debt, reports John Parry for Reuters. The Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan’s Surveys of Consumers’ sentiment index rose to 73.3 in May from 72.2 in April, a touch below market expectations for 73.5.
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“Max Chen Contributed to this article.”