RetailSails

Consumer confidence in the U.S. climbed for a second week as Americans became less pessimistic about the prospects for the world’s largest economy.

The Bloomberg Consumer Comfort Index rose to -44.8 for the week ending Jan 29th, up from -46.4 the prior week. Views on the state of the economy improved to -79.1 from -81.1, the best reading since mid-June. The index of personal finances increased to -4.5 from -6.9, and confidence in the buying climate rose to -50.8 from -51.3.

“Rising incomes and aggressive discounting by retailers likely created a better buying climate and bolstered consumer confidence to close out January,” said Joseph Brusuelas, a senior economist at Bloomberg LP in New York. “That being said, the increase in the cost of gasoline and the most tenuous of gains in the labor market does place the improvement in confidence in jeopardy.”

Forty-one percent of survey respondents said the economy is in “poor” shape, the fewest since March. Confidence improved among households in income groups ranging from $25k to $99k a year, the report showed. The reading for women climbed to a six-week high.

The report is “another sign of incremental but sure gains in consumer sentiment as the economy inches forward,” Gary Langer, president of Langer Research Associates LLC in New York, which compiles the index for Bloomberg, said in a statement.