Exuberant US Consumers Are Fatiguing
The strong US data at the beginning of the year may have been a blip amid signs of belt-tightening as rates rise and a recession looms. Meanwhile, Europe may have a more serious inflation problem.
Belt-tightening.
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Just when Wall Street thinks Americans are feeling better about the economy, they are reminded yet again that fears are hard to shake off. US consumer confidence unexpectedly fell in February as surging services prices on top of recession risks took their toll, even though the labor market stayed strong. The Conference Board’s index slipped for the second straight month to 102.9 from 106 in January, notably bucking the median forecast in a Bloomberg survey of economists that called for the gauge to rise to 108.5.