Consumer Confidence Surges in January

New York, NY, Feb. 15, 2011 -- The Conference Board’s index of U.S. consumer confidence rose more than expected in January.

The New York-based research group said its index rose to 65.6 last month, the highest level since March 2008 and up from the eight-month high of 60.6.

The board said it is using a new method to gather data but the new method has shown results consistent with the old method.

Within the report, the index for big purchases jumped five points to 86.7, which is the highest in over two years. However, the sub-index for economic expectations dropped more than two points to 67.6, which reflects uncertainty over the trajectory of the recovery in the first half of the year.

The results mirror the consumer sentiment index published Friday by the University of Michigan/Reuters.