By Ben Fox Rubin
Consumer confidence in the U.S. declined in November, following
a strong uptick in October, as sentiment about personal finance
waned, Discover Financial Services's (DFS) U.S Spending Monitor
reported.
The poll index, which tracks economic confidence and spending
intentions of about 8,200 consumers a month, fell 2.7 points to
95.4 points in November from October.
The percentage of consumers rating the U.S. economy as good or
excellent remained the same as October at 18%, up 10 percentage
points from November 2011. Additionally, 51% of consumers viewed
the economy as poor, an 11-point decrease from a year ago.
Consumer outlook on personal finances declined from October to
November, but remained up from last year. Consumers rating their
personal finances as good or excellent declined two percentage
points in November from the previous month to 35%, but that amount
was still two percentage points higher than last November.
Despite a decline in confidence about their personal finances,
39% of consumers have plans to increase their spending in December.
This is up nine percentage points from last month and is typical of
the holiday season. Overall, 12% of consumers also plan on
increasing their discretionary personal spending, such as going out
to dinner and the movies, up three percentage points from last
month, Discover said.
Write to Ben Fox Rubin at ben.rubin@dowjones.com
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