That’s how much the Bloomberg Consumer Comfort Index advanced in the past six weeks. The index, which asks consumers to rate the national economy, their personal finances and the buying climate, rose to minus 31.6 in the week ended March...
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Photograph by Victor J. Blue/Bloomberg
A woman shops at a Quiksilver store in Times Square in New York, on March 12, 2013.
Bloomberg by the Numbers: 5.9
Photograph by Joe Raedle/Getty Images
People look at boats on display at The Miami International Boat Show on Feb. 15, 2013 in Miami Beach, Florida.
Bloomberg by the Numbers: -32.8
That’s the Bloomberg Consumer Comfort Index for the seven-day period ended Feb. 24. The index, based on Americans’ ratings of the national economy, the buying climate and their personal finances, improved to the highest level this year after climbing for...
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Photograph by David Paul Morris/Bloomberg
A customer loads a television in San Francisco.
Bloomberg by the Numbers: -36.3
That’s the Bloomberg Consumer Comfort Index for the week ended Feb. 3. The index — which measures consumers’ opinions about the national economy, the buying climate and their personal finances — rose from minus 37.5 a week earlier, marking the first...
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Photograph by Daniel Acker/Bloomberg
A shopper organizes his cash at a Best Buy Co. store in Peoria.
Economic Confidence: Gallup Survey Against Grain of Consumer Indices
There are indicators, and there are indicators. One of the leading indicators of consumer confidence, the Conference Board, reported today that confidence reached its lowest level in more than a year in January as renewed payroll taxes took a bigger...
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Photograph by Michael Short/Zuma Press via Corbis
Payday Advance signs at California Check Cashing in Oakland, Calif. Less money will be in U.S. paychecks due to a higher Social Security tax rate.
Bloomberg by the Numbers: -34.4
That’s the Bloomberg Consumer Comfort Index for the week ended Jan. 6. The index, which is derived from how Americans rate the economy, the buying climate and their personal finances on a scale of minus 100 to plus 100, fell...
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Photograph by Scott Olson/Getty Images
A customer in a show room in Niles, Illinois.
Bloomberg by the Numbers: 12.9
That’s how much the Bloomberg Consumer Comfort Index rose during 2012. The index, which measures Americans’ perceptions of the national economy, their personal finances and the buying climate, was minus 31.8 in the week ended Dec. 30, compared with minus...
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Photograph by Joe Raedle/Getty Images
A customer, right, shop for a powerboat on Dec. 17, 2012 in North Miami, Florida.
Bloomberg by the Numbers: 15.5
That’s how much the Bloomberg Consumer Comfort index rose in the past 17 weeks. The index, which asks Americans to rate the national economy, the buying climate and their personal finances, improved to minus 31.9 in the week ended Dec....
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Photograph by Andrew Kelly/Getty Images
Shoppers in New York City.
Bloomberg by the Numbers: -38.6
That’s the year-to-date average of the Bloomberg Consumer Comfort Index, a weekly measurement based on Americans’ views of their national economy, the buying climate and their personal finances. The index was minus 33.8 in the week ended Dec. 2, the...
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Photograph by David Paul Morris/Bloomberg
Shoppers try on shoes inside an Aldo Group Inc. shoe store in the Westfield San Francisco Centre mall.
Claus Versus Cliff: Holiday Shopping Attitudes Color Consumers’ Moods
Consumer confidence held near a seven-month high last week, showing holiday shopping lists are outweighing Americans’ fiscal cliff concerns and keeping them in a mood to spend. The Bloomberg Consumer Comfort Index stood at minus 33.8 in the period ended...
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Photograph by Daniel Acker/Bloomberg
Valley Appliance employees deliver a Maytag Corp. electric stove to a customer in Princeton, Illinois.
Bloomberg by the Numbers: -34.4
That’s the Bloomberg Consumer Comfort Index for the week ended Nov. 4, the highest rating of the economy in more than four years. The index, produced for Bloomberg by Langer Research Associates, asks people to rate the national economy, the buying climate...
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Contributors
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Al Hunt
is a columnist for Bloomberg View and host of the weekly show "Political Capital with Al Hunt" on Bloomberg TV. -
Mark Silva
is deputy managing editor for government news in Washington and editor of Political Capital. He has covered the White House and national politics. -
Emma Fidel
is political editor for Bloomberg.com in Washington. She previously covered financial regulation as a Bloomberg intern. -
Don Frederick
edits political and government coverage for Bloomberg News. He previously worked for more than a decade at the Los Angeles Times' Washington bureau. -
Gregory Giroux
analyzes elections, financing of congressional and presidential elections, political advertising and demographics in Bloomberg's Washington Bureau. -
Julie Bykowicz
covers the influence of money and lobbying in Washington, and covered the state legislature and city crime for the Baltimore Sun for 10 years. -
Jonathan Salant
covers campaign finance and lobbying in Washington. He was president of the National Press Club and started in Washington in 1987. -
Richard Rubin
covers federal tax policy. He worked at Congressional Quarterly and The Charlotte Observer before joining Bloomberg News in 2010. -
Julie Hirschfeld Davis
is a senior political reporter for the Washington Bureau. She covered the 2012 campaign for Bloomberg News and previously covered the White House for the Baltimore Sun. -
Lisa Lerer
covers the White House and covered the 2012 campaign for Bloomberg News. She covered Congress, lobbying and the 2008 campaign for Politico. -
John McCormick
is a national political reporter looking forward to the 2016 presidential campaign, which will be the fifth he's covered. He's also reported for The Des Moines Register and Chicago Tribune. -
Julianna Goldman
covers the White House for Bloomberg News and Bloomberg Television. -
Hans Nichols
covers the White House for Bloomberg News and Bloomberg Television. -
Margaret Talev
covers the White House for Bloomberg News and covered the White House for McClatchy Newspapers. She has covered California and Florida politics. -
Cary O'Reilly
is Editor at Large at Bloomberg First Word and is Washington Daybook columnist for Bloomberg Government and Bloomberg News.
