How To Bet On The U.S. Consumer

One of the brighter spots in the U.S. economy is the consumer, who is doing fairly well overall. U.S. job growth is increasing, jobless claims are down and gasoline prices remain significantly lower from last year. People are also feeling a little more chipper, as the University of Michigan’s final sentiment index for February suggested consumer confidence at the end of last month remained relatively strong despite stock market turbulence in January. Although retail sales fell to a seasonally adjusted 0.1 percent in February, a large part of that was due to cheaper gas prices. The core retail sales report, which removes volatile prices from fuel, autos, building materials and grocery stores to smooth out readings, was unchanged in February. Read more at U.S. News & World Report.