By Ed Frankl

U.S. consumer confidence climbed for the second-straight month in December, as views of both current business conditions and the future outlook brightened, amid lower expectations for interest rate rises and inflation.

Private research group The Conference Board said Wednesday that its consumer-confidence index climbed to 110.7 in December from a downwardly revised 101.0 in November. Economists had expected the index to be 104.5, according to a Wall Street Journal poll.

The improvement reflected more positive views of the current economic conditions, as well as less pessimism about the next six months, The Conference Board's Chief Economist, Dana Peterson, said.

The component measuring the present situation rose to 148.5 from 136.5 in November, driven by more positive views of current business and the employment. Meanwhile, the measure for the expectations for the next half-year climbed to 85.6 from 77.4 in the prior month, reflecting improved confidence about future activity, job availability and incomes, The Conference Board said.

It comes as consumer expectations that Federal Reserve interest rates will rise in the year ahead tumbled, amid views that inflation will continue to recede, according to the data.

Gains were largest among householders aged 35-54 and households with income levels of $125,000 and above, Peterson said.

However, there remain concerns U.S. among consumers amid an uncertain economic outlook. The top issue affecting consumers remains rising prices, although politics, interest rates and global conflicts were lesser concerns compared with last month, December's write-in responses showed.

Expectations of a recession in the next year also ticked down to the lowest level this year, albeit with two thirds of respondents still perceiving a downturn is possible in 2024, Peterson added.

Write to Ed Frankl at edward.frankl@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

December 20, 2023 10:33 ET (15:33 GMT)