UMich Consumer Confidence Near 8-Year High, Inflation Expectations Hit 4-Year Lows

Despite the collapse of inflation expectations in last month's UMich confidence, the push to 7-year highs was unstoppable (though missing expectations)…after soaring confidence amid Ebola scares and crashing stocks in October, even the surveyers were questioning the respondents' replies “it would be surprising if recent declines in household wealth did not reverse some of the recent gains in optimism in the months ahead.” But sure enough, to maintain the magic, UMich consumer confidence rose from November's missed expectations to the highest since Jan 2007 at 93.6. Inflation expectations for the next year fell from the preliminary to the lowest in over 4 years.