Conference Board says consumer confidence improved in December

Thursday, December 28th 2006, 9:51 am

By: News On 6

NEW YORK (AP) _ Consumer confidence improved to its strongest in eight months in December after lackluster performance through the fall, but a private research group said Thursday it was too soon to determine if its reading was signaling genuine improvement.

The Conference Board said that its Consumer Confidence Index rose to 109.0 in December from a revised 105.3 in November and 105.1 in October.

The reading was the highest since the index registered 109.8 in April and was better than Wall Street anticipated. Analysts had been expecting a slight dip in the December reading to about 102.5.

Lynn Franco, director of the board's consumer research center, said in a statement accompanying the report that despite the reading ``there is little to suggest that the pace of economic activity in the final quarter of 2006 is anything but moderately better than its uninspiring performance earlier this year.''

She added: ``Given the seesaw pattern in recent months, it is too soon to tell if this boost in confidence is a genuine signal that better times are ahead.''