US economic data points to 'real momentum' for 2024, White House says
By Andrea Shalal
(Reuters) — Higher consumer spending over the holiday season, real wage gains over the last nine months and a jump in consumer confidence point to a good start for 2024, said Jared Bernstein, chair of the White House Council of Economic Advisers on Sunday.
Bernstein told «Fox News Sunday» that President Joe Biden would continue to focus on lowering costs for Americans if he won a second term in the November 2024 presidential election.
«If you actually look at the trend in the economy… I think you see some real momentum getting us in a good start for the new year,» Bernstein said.
U.S. consumer confidence increased to a five-month high in December, the Conference Board reported on Dec. 20, mirroring a nearly 14% increase in the University of Michigan's benchmark Consumer Sentiment Index, its biggest jump in more than three decades. For most of Biden's term, the Michigan index has reflected widespread pessimism among households about the economy, but the new data showed Americans' growing confidence that inflation was finally trending lower.
Michigan survey director Joanne Hsu noted the upswing in December reversed «all declines from the previous four months. These trends are rooted in substantial improvements in how consumers view the trajectory of inflation.»
Indeed, inflation has eased substantially over the course of 2023. The Labor Department's Consumer Price Index began the year with annual price increases averaging 6.4%. By November, that was down to 3.1%. Bernstein noted that gasoline was below $3 a gallon in more than half the states.
The U.S. national average retail gasoline price could drop by 13 cents next year to $3.38 a gallon, a second straight year of dropping fuel costs, according to
Read more on investing.com
