Consumer Confidence Ticks Up in February

Consumer confidence was up slightly in February, driven by increased comfort with discretionary spending. The February Consumer Confidence Score was 55.7 (+0.4 vs. January), which is an average of how consumers feel about the job market, their household finances, and their spending comfort levels.

The data was compiled by Numerator, which tracks purchase data and surveys consumers. The Numerator Consumer Sentiment Tracker collects more than 6,000 responses a month and provides a comprehensive monthly view of consumer confidence, spending and saving considerations, and future financial outlook. Here's the latest:

• 27% of consumers think it's somewhat or very difficult to find employment in the current job market.
• 47% of consumers say their household's financial situation is currently good or very good (+2%).
• 38% of consumers are very or somewhat comfortable spending money on discretionary purchases right now (+1%).
• To save money, consumers are cooking at home (45.3%), using coupons/discount codes (43.8%), and shopping for items on sale (43.6%).
• 22% of consumers say they do not have any spare cash right now, but those who do are putting it in savings (36.8%), paying down debts (32.6%), and using it for vacation/travel (27.4%).
• The February Financial Outlook Score was 51.8 (-0.6). Consumers feel neutral-to-optimistic about their household finances. When asked to predict their feelings one year from now, about 25% think their finances will be better than they are now, 53% think they'll be the same, and 22% think they'll be worse. Black consumers and Gen Z consumers are the most optimistic about their financial situations while White consumers and Boomers+ are the least.