That’s the Bloomberg Consumer Comfort Index for the week ended May 12. The index, which is based on Americans’ opinions about the economy, the buying climate and their own finances, fell from minus 29.5 in the prior week. It can...
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Photograph by Victor J. Blue/Bloomberg
Customers shop at a Macy's Inc. store in New York.
Bloomberg by the Numbers: -30.2
Photograph by Victor J. Blue/Bloomberg
A customer browses shoes at a Coach Inc. store in New York.
Payroll Tax Cut Most Paychecks: Survey
The outlook for consumer spending may hinge on what 55 percent of American households do next. That’s the share of respondents who noticed their paychecks had gotten smaller at the start of the year when the payroll tax reverted to...
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Photograph by Spencer Platt/Getty Images
Job seekers wait in line to meet with employers at the 25th Annual CUNY big Apple Job and Internship Fair at the Jacob Javits Convention Center on April 26, 2013 in New York City.
Consumer Confidence Up — Not in Jobs
Consumer confidence in the U.S. improved in April, reaching a five-month high, a report from the Conference Board showed today. Chalk up a good portion of the elation to gains in wealth from improving property values and stock portfolios. In...
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Photograph by Peter Foley/Bloomberg
Job seekers fill out applications during the NYC Restaurant Job Expo at the Gabarron Foundation in New York, on April 9, 2013.
Bloomberg by the Numbers: 339,000
That’s how many first-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits were filed in the week ended April 20. The number represents a six-week low and a decrease of 16,000 from the 355,000 applications for jobless assistance filed the previous week. “Fewer...
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Photograph by Victor J. Blue/Bloomberg
Customers try out mattresses in the showroom of an Ikea store in the Brooklyn borough of New York.
Bloomberg by the Numbers: -29.2
That’s the Bloomberg Consumer Comfort Index in the week ended April 14, the highest since January 2008. The index, which asks U.S. consumers for their views on the economy, buying climate and personal finances, rose 4.8 points from minus 34...
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Photograph by Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg
Contractors lay down flooring at a construction site in Lorton, Virginia.
Obama’s Economy: Timing Everything
Timing is everything. Before Election Day, it was reported that the nation’s unemployment fell below 8 percent for the first time in nearly four years. After Inauguration Day, it’s reported that the economy contracted, with the nation’s gross domestic product...
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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...
Read more »Bernanke: `Economy Will… Go Off a Cliff,’ if Deficit Cut Too Sharply
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, who coined the term “fiscal cliff” for that confluence of automatic spending cuts and tax increases set to take effect in January, says it’s already “having effects on the economy.” “Even though we’ve not yet...
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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 Victor J. Blue/Bloomberg
Workers build a wing tip for a C-5 cargo plane at the CPI Aerostructures Inc. manufacturing facility in Edgewood, New York.
Economic Indicators at Election Eve — White House: `Right Direction’
Updated at 10:45 am EDT Gross domestic product up. Unemployment down. Housing starts up. Consumer confidence up. With one more federal report on employment to come the Friday before Election Day, Nov. 6. All told, a series of indicators on...
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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.
