Claim: “Consumer studies show consumer confidence is soaring.”
Biden made this claim during his State of the Union address on Thursday night.
Verdict: False.
The two major gauges of consumer confidence have climbed from the very depressed levels of last year but they are not soaring. In fact, they declined in February and one measure is low enough that it is signaling an approaching recession.
The Conference Board’s Consumer Confidence Index fell in February to 106.7, down from a revised 110.9 in January. The present situation gauge and the expectation gauge both fell in February, with the expectations index falling below the threshold that often signals a recession looms ahead.
The University of Michigan’s Consumer Sentiment Index also fell in February and remains below its long-run average. It is far lower than the level that prevailed during Donald Trump’s presidency.
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