US consumer confidence remains high after January downturn

By MATT OTT
AP Business Writer

SILVER SPRING, Md. (AP) — U.S. consumer confidence declined this month as Americans became slightly less optimistic about their near-term financial prospects amid persistent inflation and the highly-contagious omicron variant of the coronavirus. The Conference Board, a business research group, said Tuesday that its consumer confidence index — which takes into account consumers’ assessment of current conditions and the their outlook for the future — fell to 113.8 in January, from 115.2 in December. The board’s present situation index, which measures consumers’ assessment of current business and labor conditions, rose this month but the expectations index, based on consumers’ outlook for income, business and labor market conditions, fell.