The surprisingly strong June consumer confidence numbers that came out yesterday may seem like a bit of a fresh start after the Wall Street meltdown we suffered through last week, but there's more to this than meets the eye. For one thing, the survey was conducted prior to June 13th, and the market started its steep decline nearly a week later, on June 19.
Nevertheless, a five-year high in consumer confidence is enough to get one's attention. The largest factor was increasing optimism about the job market, as well as the recent growth in the housing market. Add it up, and you get consumer confidence at its highest since January 2008, at the very onset of the recession.
Employment and housing are probably bigger factors in consumer confidence than stock prices, so the June figure might not have been hurt too badly by the market's decline even if it had been factored in. It will be interesting to see if the stock drop has any effect on July's confidence reading.
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