US consumer confidence skids; house prices jump

Resurging virus infections and business restrictions are the culprits in the declining US consumer confidence in November, raising red flags of a sharp economic growth slowdown in the final quarter of 2020.

The released Conference Board survey on Tuesday showed a declining consumer confidence index as it posted a 96.1 reading this month from a high 101.4 in October. Reuters analysts had polled the index to hit 98 in November. These figures appear pale in comparison to the 132.6 reading in February earlier this year.

The plummeting consumer confidence index is on top of the rising number of unemployment claims in mid-November. The U.S. economy is slowing down as more than $3 trillion in government coronavirus reliefs has been consumed.  However, the cut-off date for the consumer confidence survey was Nov. 13, days before news of coronavirus vaccines sparked and lifted financial markets.

Meanwhile, the US housing sector continues to expand. As the pandemic stirred a migration from city centers to suburbs, the house price index increased 6.6% from a year ago in September after jumping 5.3% in August.