Americans' Comfort Steady as Republicans More Upbeat Than Ever

(Bloomberg) -- U.S. consumer comfort held up last week as assessments of personal finances matched a 19-year high and sentiment among Republicans climbed to a record, adding to signs that Americans are looking past the most recent trade war intensification with the Federal Reserve poised to again lower borrowing costs.

The Bloomberg Consumer Comfort Index was little changed at 63.2 from 63.4 a week earlier, holding close to its best level since 2000. Among the three main subindexes, a drop in ratings of the buying climate offset more optimism about household finances as views of the state of the economy were unchanged.

Key Takeaways

• The data follow mixed results in August consumer surveys. The Conference Board’s confidence index eased even as views of the present situation jumped to the highest since 2000. Meanwhile, the University of Michigan sentiment gauge fell by the most in six years.
• President Donald Trump increased tariffs on Chinese goods Sept. 1 with Beijing retaliating with levies of its own.
• Fed officials are expected to make a second-straight reduction to interest rates next week after lowering them in July for the first time in a decade.

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• The comfort index for Republicans rose to a 82.2, a record in data back to 1990, while the measure for Democrats slipped to 54.3 and the reading for independents weakened to 58.3.
• The measure for those ages 35-44 rose to a record of 72.3.
• Interviews for the week ended on Saturday, rather than the customary Sunday, according to Langer Research Associates, which conducts the survey.

To contact the reporter on this story: William Edwards in Washington at wedwards29@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Scott Lanman at slanman@bloomberg.net, Jeff Kearns, Vince Golle

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