Trump Takes Credit for Rising Consumer Confidence; Analyst Weighs In

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/trump-takes-credit-for-rising-consumer-confidence-analyst-weighs-in-a7504826.html

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Editors' pick: Originally published Dec. 28.

U.S. consumer confidence in December rose to its highest level in over 15 years, 113.7, as more Americans are expressing faith that business conditions will improve under President-elect Donald Trump. A Reuters survey showed the expectation was for a reading of 109.

Almost predictably, Trump took to Twitter to take credit for the spike. "The U.S. Consumer Confidence Index for December surged nearly four points to 113.7. The highest level in more than 15 years! Thanks Donald!" he tweeted.

However, "Looking ahead to 2017, consumers' continued optimism will depend on whether or not their expectations are realized," Lynn Franco, director of economic indicators at The Conference Board, told New York Times.

So how much of a factor was the incoming president? WSL Strategic Retail CEO Wendy Liebmann discussed that and the 2016 holiday sales on Wednesday morning's Bloomberg Daybreak: Americas.

Bloomberg anchor Alix Steel asked Liebmann where the U.S. is in this holiday season, when compared to last year.

"Better," she responded. "Certainly topline better. It was very early digital, very late stores, very discounted. So profitability will be a bit of a worry as we get into the new year. But people did come out. They were feeling better, the economic indicators made people feel a little better. I don't know if Mr. Trump had anything to do with it, but they came out."

One issue facing brick-and-mortar retailers is getting people through the doors rather than stay home and buying online. One tactic retailers took this year was more discounting.