Consumer Confidence Rises in December

New York, NY, December 27, 2007—Consumer confidence was up in December, the Conference Board said Thursday.

The Consumer Confidence Index rose to 88.6 in December from a revised 87.8 in November, the first increase since July.

The gain "was due solely to an increase in the expectations index," said Lynn Franco, the board’s director of consumer research, in a press release.

This expectations reading, which measures consumers' outlook over the next six months, rose to 75.5 in December from 69.1 the month before.

"Consumers' short-term outlook regarding business conditions, employment, inflation and stock prices improved marginally," Franco said.