Without condemning the accusers, Tom looks at cases of mass hysteria and compares the Kavanaugh case to the infamous McMartin preschool trials of the 80s.
*Kavanaugh Hysteria
*McMartin and Witches
*Bread and Circuses
*It’s About Respect
*Last Word: Cosby
Today’s Bumpers:
Abraham, Martin and John- Dion
What The World Needs Now Is Love- Jackie DeShannon
Stardust- Nat King Cole
Endless Love- Diana Ross
Goodbye Yellow Brick Road – Elton John
Daddy Could Swear- Gladys Knight
Closing Theme-
Batman Dark Knight Rises 2012 House Remix feat. Hans Zimmer
It can be found at
http://www.hulkshare.com/praktikos/dark-nights-rise
More at:
http://www.hulkshare.com/praktikos
The money pledged thru Patreon.com will go toward show costs such as advertising, server time, and broadcasting equipment. If we can get enough listeners, we will expand the show to two hours and hire additional staff/
To help our show out, please support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/LibertyNeverSleeps
All bumper music and sound clips are not owned by the show, are either under Creative Commons Attribution Licensing, is for commentary and educational purposes, of de minimus effect, and not for monetary gain.
No copyright is claimed in any use of such materials and to the extent that material may appear to be infringed, I assert that such alleged infringement is permissible under fair use principles in U.S. copyright laws. If you believe material has been used in an unauthorized manner, please contact the poster.
Workers assemble built-in appliances at the Whirlpool manufacturing plant in Cleveland, Tennessee August 21, 2013. (Photo: Reuters)
Real gross domestic product (GDP) for the second quarter (Q2) 2018 held firm at 4.2%, the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) reported.
Imports which are a subtraction in the calculation of GDP, were revised down slightly. The BEA said the general economic picture remains unchanged: a downward revision to private inventory investment was offset by small upward revisions to most other GDP components.
Positive contributions from PCE, nonresidential fixed investment, exports, federal government spending, and state and local government spending that were partly offset by negative contributions from private inventory investment and residential fixed investment.
Real gross domestic income (GDI) rose 1.6% in Q2, revised downward by 0.2%, compared with an increase of 3.9% in Q1 2018. The average of real GDP and real GDI, a supplemental measure of U.S. economic activity that equally weights GDP and GDI, gained 2.9% in Q2 juxtaposed to an increase of 3.1% in Q1.
The price index for gross domestic purchases rose 2.4% in Q2, compared with a gain of 2.5% in Q1. The PCE price index was up 2.0%, compared with a gain of 2.5%. Excluding food and energy prices, the PCE price index increased 2.1%, compared with an increase of 2.2%.
Meanwhile, Federal Reserve raised its real gross domestic product (GDP) annual growth projection for 2018 to 3.1%, up from 2.8%. The Board of Governors also voted unanimously to raise interest rates paid on required and excess reserve balances to 2.20%, effective September 27, 2018.
The Atlanta Fed’s GDPNow model revised its third-quarter 2018 gross domestic product (GDP) forecast to 4.4% on September 14. That’s up from 3.8% on September 11. The revision reflects stronger personal consumption expenditures, also known as consumer spending, and industrial production.
The Conference Board’s Consumer Confidence Index hit a new 18-year high this quarter and threatened to break the all-time record. The Survey of Consumers, a closely-watched gauge of consumer sentiment, is at the highest level since 2004.
2018 Sunshine State Battleground Poll Graphic Concept.
The Sunshine State Battleground Poll for September finds big majorities of voters in Florida oppose a state income tax and voting for socialists. Yet, mixed-mode interviews with 826 likely voters in Florida from September 21 – 24, 2018, finds a tight race for U.S. Senate and a slight favorite in the gubernatorial contest.
Presidential Approval Rating
Overall, do you approve or disapprove of the way Donald Trump is handling his job as President?
In September, Florida voters’ views surrounding President Donald Trump’s job performance have softened in intensity. The president is slightly above water in the Sunshine State, with 48% approving of the way he is handling his job, 46% disapproving and 6% unsure or undecided.
That includes 39% who strongly approve and an almost identical 40% who strongly disapprove.
“We’ve not found that high of an undecided number in months. People have strong feelings toward President Trump, and not too many are undecided,” said Big Data Poll Director Rich Baris, who also directs the PPD Election Projection Model. “This softening could be a very good sign for him in Florida. But we’ll see in future polling.”
Top Voting Issues
Thinking ahead to November, which issue would you say is MOST important to your midterm vote?
The Economy and Jobs remains the top voting issue among voters in Florida at roughly 32%. However, at just under 26%, Healthcare continues its steady rise as a top concern as economic sentiment remains high. Immigration and Border Security came in third at just under 21%.
Big Data Poll also asked two questions relevant to Mr. Gillum’s political views. Interestingly, despite voter preference at the gubernatorial level, they didn’t test well among voters.
State Income Tax
Would you ever consider voting for a governor who supports imposing a state income tax?
By a 56% to 19% margin, Florida voters say they’d never consider voting for a gubernatorial candidate who supports imposing a state income tax. Roughly a quarter (24.2%) were unsure or undecided. Even voters 18 to 29 chose “No” by a 30.1% to 26.8% margin, while less than 11% of 65-plus voters would.
Sunshine State Battleground Poll Crosstabs: Support for State Income Tax By Age. (Big Data Poll)
“It’s important to note that these questions could not be asked under any circumstances before the ballot tests,” Mr. Baris added. “We’ve noticed some firms inserting potentially bias-tainted questions before approval ratings and ballot tests. We do not, and no pollster should, approve of that practice.”
Socialism
Socialism is defined as an economic, and political system, in which the means of production are owned and controlled by the State, not individuals and companies. Would you ever consider voting for a socialist governor in Florida?
By a 61% to 24% margin, voters in Florida say they’d never consider voting for a socialist gubernatorial candidate.
U.S. Senate
Republican Governor Rick Scott still holds a slight 1-point edge over incumbent Democratic Senator Bill Nelson, 43% to 42%. That’s down from a high of 6 points and the closest Big Data Poll has found the two candidates since February.
Governor Scott, who for months had the airwaves all to himself, has held a 2- to 6-point lead over Senator Nelson. But now the Democratic incumbent has begun to return fire, and it’s at least taking a temporary toll on the governor’s position.
Gubernatorial
Democrat Andrew Gillum with a lead over Republican Ron DeSantis 44% to 40% in the race for governor.
By gender and party, Mr. Gillum leads Mr. DeSantis among independent female voters, 45% to 29%. Further, the percentage of female Republican crossover vote is about 6% greater than the female Democrat crossover vote.
Independent male voters split their vote between the two candidates at 44%. While male Democrat crossover is about 10% greater than male Republican crossover, Mr. Gillum’s margin among women offsets it.
“This is a good old-fashion messaging issue. Rep. DeSantis was put on the defensive within 24 hours of their primary victories and the campaign hasn’t been able to regain control of the message,” Director Baris added. “Big majorities of voters in Florida oppose a policy and a political view his opponent supports and shares. He is just not making the case.”
If Governor Scott defeats Senator Nelson and Mr. Gillum defeats Rep. DeSantis, it would be the first time Florida voters split their ticket since before the Obama era. In 2006, Senator Nelson easily defeated Republican nominee Katherine Harris, 60.3% to 38.1%, while then-Republican Governor Charlie Crist clobbered his Democratic opponent Jim Davis, 52.2% to 45.1%.
But now he is the only Democratic elected to statewide office in Florida, which became markedly more Republican from 2008 to 2016.
View the survey wording and questionnaire below. Note that for the IVR collection mode portion of the survey, rotations, anchors, etc. are depicted on the questionnaire.
Big Data Poll conducted a mixed-mode phone and online survey of 826 likely voters in Florida from September 21 – 24, 2018. The sampling error is ±3.4% with a confidence level (α) of 95%. Interviews were conducted via Interactive Voice Response (IVR) and respondents were given a Spanish option. The survey was self-sponsored by Big Data Poll for the PPD Election Projection Model.
Data was weighted for gender, age, gender, race, education, income and region. Weighting also reflects likely voters based on responses, interest and prior voting history, as well as state demographics in the voter files.
For more about methodology, 1) view the AAPOR TI Checklist above for survey-specific information and 2) BDP Methodology.
Four months of Judge Brett Kavanaugh’s calendar from the summer of 1982. (Senate Judiciary Committee)
U.S. Supreme Court nominee Judge Brett Kavanaugh turned over a calendar detailing four months over the summer of 1982. Copies of the calendar were released by the Senate Judiciary Committee.
“The calendars were provided pursuant to Chairman Grassley request that Judge Kavanaugh provide any and all documentary evidence he may possess relating to the allegations raised by Dr. Ford,” said George Hartmann, the press secretary for Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa.
Christine Blasey Ford, a liberal activist and Palo Alto University psychology professor, alleged in a letter to Senator Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., Judge Kavanaugh attempted to rape her at a high-school party in or about 1982, when he was 17 and she was 15.
However, she can’t remember where exactly the party was or how she got there. The allegation, which was disputed by all parties mentioned in her account, was made in a letter to Senator Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., the Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Senator Feinstein withheld it for 6 weeks and it was only leaked after the Senate Judiciary Committee held hearings on the confirmation. During those hearings, Democrats attempted to obstruct, paid protestors and staged outbursts.
Politically, they didn’t land a glove on him.
Judge Kavanaugh, 53, serves on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. President Donald Trump moved on the nomination to replace Justice Anthony Kennedy, who announced a few weeks before that he would retire, effective July 31.
He has vehemently denied the allegations — now totaling three — and sources tell People’s Pundit Daily (PPD) that Judge Kavanaugh has been eager to defend himself against these allegations, publicly.
The third and latest allegation comes on the eve of the high-profile hearing, and from Democrat PR attorney Michael Avenatti, who identified and released a “sworn declaration” from a woman claiming the nominee was involved in “gang” rapes in the 1980s and “in approximately 1982” she herself became a victim.
The affidavit appeared to claim to have witnessed these accusations, though doesn’t specifically name the nominee as one of those who assaulted her.
“This is ridiculous and from the Twilight Zone,” Judge Kavanaugh said in a statement through the White House. “I don’t know who this is and this never happened.”
Technically, Swetnick is the third woman to level an allegation of sexual misconduct against Judge Kavanaugh, which date back to his time at Georgetown Prep high school in Maryland and Yale University.
A second allegation was by a woman named Deborah Ramirez in The New Yorker. She claimed he exposed himself and shoved his penis in her face while they played a drinking game in a dorm at Yale. However, The New York Times spoke with dozens of people.
None of them, to include those mentioned in her account, could corroborate the story. In fact, they vehemently deny the events ever took place.
Federal Reserve Governor Jerome Powell delivers remarks during a conference at the Brookings Institution in Washington August 3, 2015. (Photo: Reuters)
The Federal Reserve raised its real gross domestic product (GDP) annual growth projection for 2018 to 3.1%, up from 2.8%. The Board of Governors also voted unanimously to raise interest rates paid on required and excess reserve balances to 2.20%, effective September 27, 2018.
The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) said inflation on a 12-month basis — including for items other than food and energy — remain near 2%. Coupled with strong labor market conditions and increased GDP growth, the risks to the economic outlook appear balanced.
“In view of realized and expected labor market conditions and inflation, the Committee decided to raise the target range for the federal funds rate to 2 to 2-1/4 percent,” the FOMC said in the statement.
“The Committee expects that further gradual increases in the target range for the federal funds rate will be consistent with sustained expansion of economic activity, strong labor market conditions, and inflation near the Committee’s symmetric 2 percent objective over the medium term.”
Requests for the rate submitted were made by the Boards of Directors of the Federal Reserve Banks of Boston, Philadelphia, Cleveland, Richmond, Atlanta, Chicago, St. Louis, Kansas City, Dallas, and San Francisco:
Effective September 27, 2018, the Federal Open Market Committee directs the Desk to undertake open market operations as necessary to maintain the federal funds rate in a target range of 2 to 2-1/4 percent, including overnight reverse repurchase operations (and reverse repurchase operations with maturities of more than one day when necessary to accommodate weekend, holiday, or similar trading conventions) at an offering rate of 2.00 percent, in amounts limited only by the value of Treasury securities held outright in the System Open Market Account that are available for such operations and by a per-counterparty limit of $30 billion per day.
The Committee directs the Desk to continue rolling over at auction the amount of principal payments from the Federal Reserve’s holdings of Treasury securities maturing during September that exceeds $24 billion, and to continue reinvesting in agency mortgage-backed securities the amount of principal payments from the Federal Reserve’s holdings of agency debt and agency mortgage-backed securities received during September that exceeds $16 billion. Effective in October, the Committee directs the Desk to roll over at auction the amount of principal payments from the Federal Reserve’s holdings of Treasury securities maturing during each calendar month that exceeds $30 billion, and to reinvest in agency mortgage-backed securities the amount of principal payments from the Federal Reserve’s holdings of agency debt and agency mortgage-backed securities received during each calendar month that exceeds $20 billion. Small deviations from these amounts for operational reasons are acceptable.
The Committee also directs the Desk to engage in dollar roll and coupon swap transactions as necessary to facilitate settlement of the Federal Reserve’s agency mortgage-backed securities transactions.
The Atlanta Fed’s GDPNow model revised its third-quarter 2018 gross domestic product (GDP) forecast to 4.4% on September 14. That’s up from 3.8% on September 11. The revision reflects stronger personal consumption expenditures, also known as consumer spending, and industrial production.
It does not factor in the very strong build in business inventories that also came out Friday. While the advance estimate of U.S. retails sales for the month of August was slightly weaker than expected, upward revisions to an already-strong July was a big score.
The Conference Board’s Consumer Confidence Index hit a new 18-year high this quarter and threatened to break the all-time record. The Survey of Consumers, a closely-watched gauge of consumer sentiment, is at the highest level since 2004.
U.S. GDP 2018 Picture
The GDPNow forecasting model provides a “nowcast” of the official estimate prior to its release by estimating GDP growth using a methodology similar to the one used by the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA).
The Federal Reserve real GDP growth projections are typically low juxtaposed to both BEA and the GDPNow forecasting model.
BEA revised Q1 2018 GDP higher to +2.2%. First quarters post-Great Recession under the previous administration generally were negative.
The Q1 2018 strength pushed the annualized GDP rate for +3.1% from the trailing 4 quarters after Q2 2018 was released. That’s reinforced by growth consistently above +2% in every quarter for the first time in more than 10 years.
GDP for Q2 2018 was revised slightly higher at the end of last month to 4.2%, beating the consensus. The third and final reading for the Q2 2018 will be released on September 27.
The advance estimate for Q3 2018, which gets us back to the GDPNow forecasting model, will be released on October 26 at 8:30 AP EST.
Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, left, and liberal activist lawyer Michael Avenatti.
On the eve of the high-profile hearing to address sexual misconduct allegations against Brett Kavanaugh, Democrat PR attorney Michael Avenatti identified and released a “sworn declaration” from a woman claiming the U.S. Supreme Court nominee was involved in “gang” rapes in the 1980s and “in approximately 1982” she herself became a victim.
The affidavit appeared to claim to have witnessed these accusations, though doesn’t specifically name the nominee as one of those who assaulted her.
“This is ridiculous and from the Twilight Zone,” Judge Kavanaugh said in a statement through the White House. “I don’t know who this is and this never happened.”
Avenatti, known as a media version of a slip-and-fall activist, tweeted out the allegations earlier Wednesday.
“Here is a picture of my client Julie Swetnick. She is courageous, brave and honest,” he tweeted. “We ask that her privacy and that of her family be respected.”
Here is a picture of my client Julie Swetnick. She is courageous, brave and honest. We ask that her privacy and that of her family be respected. pic.twitter.com/auuSeHm5s0
Swetnick also claims in the statement that Judge Kavanaugh and a friend were “present” when she became a “victim of one of these ‘gang’ or ‘train’ rapes” in 1982.”
Below is my correspondence to Mr. Davis of moments ago, together with a sworn declaration from my client. We demand an immediate FBI investigation into the allegations. Under no circumstances should Brett Kavanaugh be confirmed absent a full and complete investigation. pic.twitter.com/QHbHBbbfbE
Judge Kavanaugh, 53, serves on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. President Donald Trump moved on the nomination to replace Justice Anthony Kennedy, who announced a few weeks before that he would retire, effective July 31.
The Senate Judiciary Committee began holding hearings for the confirmation of Judge Kavanaugh on September 4. Despite Democrats attempting to obstruct, pay protestors and stage outbursts, they didn’t land a glove on him.
Then, Christine Blasey Ford, a liberal activist and Palo Alto University psychology professor, alleges Judge Kavanaugh attempted to rape her at a high-school party in or about 1982, when he was 17 and she was 15.
However, she can’t remember where exactly the party was or how she got there.
The allegation, which has been disputed by all parties mentioned in her account, was made in a letter to Senator Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., the Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee. She withheld it for 6 weeks until after the committee held confirmation hearings.
The latest allegation was made a day before Professor Ford was scheduled to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee about her initial allegation. Sources tell People’s Pundit Daily (PPD) that Judge Kavanaugh has been chomping at the bit to defend himself against these allegations, publicly.
The Senate Judiciary Committee released copies of a calendar the nominee turned over detailing four months over that summer in 1982. It’s full of scribbled notes from May, June, July and August of 1982.
Four months of Judge Brett Kavanaugh’s calendar from the summer of 1982. (Senate Judiciary Committee)
“The calendars were provided pursuant to Chairman Grassley request that Judge Kavanaugh provide any and all documentary evidence he may possess relating to the allegations raised by Dr. Ford,” said George Hartmann, the press secretary for Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa.
The calendar does reference a person named “Judge,” presumably Mark Judge, whom Professor Ford (and now Swetnick) accused of being present at the time of the alleged sexual assault.
Avenatti, who has teased the release over the last few days, now calls for the hearing to be delayed. Taylor Foy, a spokesperson for Chairman Grassley said lawyers for the committee are reviewing Swetnick’s accusation.
Technically, Swetnick is the third woman to level an allegation of sexual misconduct against Judge Kavanaugh, which date back to his time at Georgetown Prep high school in Maryland and Yale University.
The New Yorker ran with an accusation by a woman named Deborah Ramirez. She claimed he exposed himself and shoved his penis in her face while they played a drinking game in a dorm at Yale. However, The New York Times spoke with dozens of people.
None of them, to include those mentioned in her account, could corroborate the story.
A real estate sign advertising a new home for sale is pictured in Vienna, Virginia, outside of Washington, October 20, 2014. (Photo: Reuters)
New homes sales gin August 2018 gained at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 629,000, matching the consensus forecast. This is 3.5% (±13.7%) above the revised July rate of 608,000 and is 12.7% (±20.7%) higher than the August 2017 estimate of 558,000.
However, the big downward revision to July, which was initially reported to be 629,000, essentially cancelled out most of the gains for the months of August. It’s a reminder just how volatile the new home sales report can be on a monthly basis.
The U.S. Census Bureau and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) jointly conduct and release the report on new residential sales statistics.
The median sales price of new houses sold in August 2018 was $320,200. The average sales price was $388,400. The seasonally-adjusted estimate of new houses for sale at the end of August was 318,000. This represents a supply of 6.1 months at the current sales rate.
By region, the West led the way with a 9.1% monthly gain and a 19.1% gain on an annual basis. The Midwest followed with a gain of 2.7% monthly and an annual gain of 13.2%.
The South which is by far the largest region, down 1.7 percent in the month but up 11.5% year-on-year. The Northeast trails as usual even though new home sales soared 48% this month. It is widely exaggerated given the base and regional sales for the year are down 2.9%.
*The Cosby Factor
*The UN’s Underpinnings
*The Fourth Reich and the EU
*Human Rights VS the Constitution
*Last Word: Grassley
Today’s Bumpers:
Billie Jean- Michael Jackson
Everybody Wants to Rule the World- Tears for Fears
Hooked on a Feeling- BJ Thomas
Angel of the Morning- Juice Newton
Every Breath You Take- The Police
Woke Up this Morning- Alabama 3
Closing Theme-
Batman Dark Knight Rises 2012 House Remix feat. Hans Zimmer
It can be found at
http://www.hulkshare.com/praktikos/dark-nights-rise
More at:
http://www.hulkshare.com/praktikos
The money pledged thru Patreon.com will go toward show costs such as advertising, server time, and broadcasting equipment. If we can get enough listeners, we will expand the show to two hours and hire additional staff/
To help our show out, please support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/LibertyNeverSleeps
All bumper music and sound clips are not owned by the show, are either under Creative Commons Attribution Licensing, is for commentary and educational purposes, of de minimus effect, and not for monetary gain.
No copyright is claimed in any use of such materials and to the extent that material may appear to be infringed, I assert that such alleged infringement is permissible under fair use principles in U.S. copyright laws. If you believe material has been used in an unauthorized manner, please contact the poster.
A under contract sign on a home previously for sale in Vienna, Va. (Photo: Reuters)
The S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller U.S. National Home Price Index covering all 9 U.S. census divisions posted a 6.0% annual gain in July. That’s down from 6.2% in June.
The 10-City Composite annual increase came in at 5.5%, down from 6.0% in June. The 20-City Composite shows a 5.9% year-over-year gain, down from 6.4%.
Las Vegas, Seattle and San Francisco once again posted the highest year-over-year gains among the 20 cities.
From the report:
In July, Las Vegas led the way with a 13.7% year-over-year price increase, followed by Seattle with a 12.1% increase and San Francisco with a 10.8% increase. Five of the 20 cities reported greater price increases in the year ending July 2018 versus the year ending June 2018. The charts on the following page compare year-over-year returns of different housing price ranges (tiers) for the top two cities, Las Vegas and Seattle.
“Rising homes prices are beginning to catch up with housing,” says David M. Blitzer, Managing Director and Chairman of the Index Committee at S&P Dow Jones Indices. “Year-over-year gains and monthly seasonally adjusted increases both slowed in July for the S&P Corelogic Case-Shiller National Index and the 10 and 20-City Composite indices. The slowing is widespread: 15 of 20 cities saw smaller monthly increases in July 2018 than in July 2017. Sales of existing single family homes have dropped each month for the last six months and are now at the level of July 2016. Housing starts rose in August due to strong gains in multifamily construction. The index of housing affordability has worsened substantially since the start of the year.”
“Since home prices bottomed in 2012, 12 of the 20 cities tracked by the S&P Corelogic Case-Shiller indices have reached new highs before adjusting for inflation. The eight that remain underwater include the four cities which led the home price boom: Las Vegas, Miami, Phoenix and Tampa. All are enjoying rising prices, especially Las Vegas which currently has the largest year-over-year increases of all 20 cities. The other cities where prices are still not over their earlier peaks are Washington DC, Chicago, New York and Atlanta. “
Consumer confidence 3D gear graphic reporting the Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index.
The Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index rose to an 18-year high in September following a big gain in August, and nearly broke the all-time high.
The Index now stands at 138.4 (1985=100), up from 134.7 in August. The Present Situation Index also slightly improved from 172.8 to 173.1, while the Expectations Index surged from 109.3 last month to 115.3 this month.
The monthly Consumer Confidence Survey, based on a probability-design random sample, is conducted for The Conference Board by Nielsen, a leading global provider of information and analytics around what consumers buy and watch. The cutoff date for the preliminary results was September 14.
“After a considerable improvement in August, Consumer Confidence increased further in September and hovers at an 18-year high,” said Lynn Franco, Director of Economic Indicators at The Conference Board. “The September reading is not far from the all-time high of 144.7 reached in 2000.”
Consumers’ assessment of current conditions largely were flat at solid in September.
Those stating business conditions are “good” rose from 40.5% to 41.4%, while those saying business conditions are “bad” declined from 9.3% to 9.1%. Consumers’ assessment of the labor market was somewhat more favorable.
Those claiming jobs are “plentiful” rose from 42.3% to 45.7%, but those claiming jobs are “hard to get” increased from 12.1% to 13.2%.
“Consumers’ assessment of current conditions remains extremely favorable, bolstered by a strong economy and robust job growth. The Expectations Index surged in September, suggesting solid economic growth exceeding 3.0% for the remainder of the year,” Franco added.
“These historically high confidence levels should continue to support healthy consumer spending, and should be welcome news for retailers as they begin gearing up for the holiday season.”
Consumers’ optimism about the short-term outlook improved considerably in September.
The percentage of consumers anticipating business conditions will improve over the next six months increased from 24.4% to 27.6%, while those expecting business conditions will worsen declined, from 9.9% to 8.0%.
Consumers’ outlook for the already-strong labor market was also more positive. The percentage expecting more jobs in the months ahead increased from 21.5% to 22.5%, while those anticipating fewer jobs decreased from 13.2% to 11.0%.
Regarding their short-term income prospects, the percentage of consumers expecting an improvement declined from 25.4% to 22.6%, but the proportion expecting a decrease declined marginally, from 6.9% to 6.5%.
You have %%pigeonMeterAvailable%% free %%pigeonCopyPage%% remaining this month. Get unlimited access and support reader-funded, independent data journalism.