U.S. Consumer Confidence Declined for Second Straight Month in December

The Conference Board is reporting that U.S. consumer confidence dropped for a second straight month in December. The result of a deterioration in the labor market amid renewed business restrictions to slow the raging pandemic offset the rolling out of a vaccine for COVID-19. slow the raging pandemic offset the rolling out of a vaccine for COVID-19. The Conference Board’s consumer confidence index dropped to a reading of 88.6 in December, the lowest since August, and down from a reading of 92.9 in November. The index was at 132.6 in February. On Tuesday (12/22) the U.S. government confirmed that the economy grew at a historic pace in the Q3, juiced up by more than $3 trillion in pandemic relief. Congress on Monday (12/21) approved additional fiscal stimulus worth almost $900 billion, but economists said they believed this was insufficient and too late to counter a bleak winter of rising coronavirus infections and layoffs.