Remember this, from Animal House?
Well, you’re gonna hear the Liberal/Democrat version of that for the next 5 months.
NEW YORK (Associated Press) — Here we go again.
Americans’ confidence in the economy suffered the biggest drop in eight months as worries about the weak jobs, housing and stock markets rattled them again. The decline comes after a few months of optimism amid some positive economic news.
The Conference Board, a private research group, said on Tuesday that its Consumer Confidence Index now stands at 64.9, down from a revised 68.7 in April. With gas prices falling, Americans were expected to push the measure to 70, according to analysts polled by FactSet.
But the May figure, which represents the biggest drop since October 2011 when the measure fell about 6 points, shows that consumers need more encouraging economic signs before their concerns start to dissipate.
Sort of like a kid learning to eat their peas, the American consumer just needs the right ‘encouragement’ and then their irrational economic fears will be all better.
Nice spin, AP!
Compare that headline with this headline from the NY Times:
“Consumer Sentiment Rises to Highest Level in Four Years”
Doing the Associated Press one better, the Times ignores the report AP used and quotes from a different report which totally contradicts the AP’s, and says that Consumer Sentiment (sentiment…?) “rose to its highest level in more than four years in May as Americans stayed positive about the job market”.
Curiously, when you review the same report that the Times uses for its headline you find THIS fact, which actually appears prior to their data point:
“Confidence in the government’s economic policies remained relatively low, with 41% holding negative views.”
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But remember: “All is Well“.