Consumer Comfort Index Rises Sharply

Consumer activity, after a soft July, may be on the rise. The consumer comfort index is up a very sharp 1.7 points in the August 21 week to 45.3 for the best reading of the year. But this index has been uneven, starting August off with a dip to what is a substantially lower level of 41.8. Yet today's results do hint at unexpected strength for tomorrow's consumer sentiment report where little change had been expected.