United States Economy Still Weak, but More Feel Secure (Consumer Confidence # Surges)

By artappraiser on Fri, 09/28/2012 - 5:25am |

By Annie Lowrey, New York Times Business Day, September 27/28, 2012

Both economists and the Romney campaign are puzzling over the same paradox: The recovery has flagged and yet the country’s mood appears to be improving.

Despite months of disappointing-to-dismal economic reports — capped by a Commerce Department release Thursday showing the economy had expanded at an annual pace of just 1.3 percent in the second quarter, barely above stall speed — a closely watched measure of consumer confidence surged to its highest level since February.

Economic experts pointed to several trends to explain how Americans were feeling better about the economy even though growth in jobs and the overall economy had weakened [....]

URL:

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/28/business/economy/economy-still-weak-but-more-feel-secure.html?hp