US consumer confidence rose to a three-month high this month, while prices in the hard-hit housing sector stalled in October, breaking a five-month string of gains.
The consumer confidence reading released on Tuesday reinforced views that the economy is gradually recovering, and the October housing data from the widely watched Standard & Poor’s/Case-Shiller indexes was seen as indicating the market is stabilizing.
The Conference Board, an industry group, said its index of consumer attitudes rose to a reading of 52.9 this month from a revised 50.6 last month as job market pessimism eased and consumers’ expectations reached a two-year high.
“There were some small signs of weakness, but all in all, it’s a better number. It continues the trend of the US economy improving,” said Camilla Sutton, senior currency strategist at Scotia Capital in Toronto.
Despite some signs of optimism, consumers this month rated their present situation the worst since February 1983, the Conference Board said. The US economy has been struggling to rebound from the worst recession in decades.
The consumer confidence index beat analysts’ forecast of 52.5, which was based on a Reuters poll that ranged between 46.0 and 57.0. Last month’s reading was also revised higher from an originally reported 49.5.
The expectations index rose to 75.6 — the highest since December 2007 — from 70.3 last month.
Consumers’ labor market assessment also showed some signs of improvement, with the “jobs hard to get” index decreasing to 48.6 from 49.2.
Consumers rated their present situation the worst since February 1983, with that index falling to 18.8 from 21.2.
The “jobs plentiful” index also fell, dropping to 2.9 — also its lowest since February 1983 — from 3.1.
In housing, the S&P composite index of home prices in 20 metropolitan areas was flat in October, falling short of expectations for a 0.2 percent rise. September’s index was revised upward to a gain of 0.4 percent, from a previously reported 0.3 percent.
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
LANDSLIDES POSSIBLE: The agency advised the public to avoid visiting mountainous regions due to more expected aftershocks and rainfall from a series of weather fronts A series of earthquakes over the past few days were likely aftershocks of the April 3 earthquake in Hualien County, with further aftershocks to be expected for up to a year, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Based on the nation’s experience after the quake on Sept. 21, 1999, more aftershocks are possible over the next six months to a year, the agency said. A total of 103 earthquakes of magnitude 4 on the local magnitude scale or higher hit Hualien County from 5:08pm on Monday to 10:27am yesterday, with 27 of them exceeding magnitude 5. They included two, of magnitude
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique