Contrarians, however, may view the results as a sign that things are about to get rockier in the US.
Economists polled by MarketWatch expected a decline to 81.5, with concerns about Hurricane Sandy and the fiscal cliff outweighing positive jobs and housing data and lower gas prices. The cutoff for the survey was Wednesday, a day after voters re-elected President Obama.
“Rising confidence might have been a tailwind that helped the president get reelected despite slow economic growth and high unemployment,” said analysts at RDQ Economics in New York. “However, we suspect if fiscal cliff issues are not resolved, consumer confidence is likely to take a hit around the turn of the year.”
The sentiment gauge, which covers how consumers view their personal finances as well as business and buying conditions, averaged about 87 in the year before the most recent recession.
The survey’s gauge of consumers’ views on current conditions rose to 91.3 in November from 88.1 in October, while the barometer of expectations increased to 80.8 from 79.
Economists watch sentiment data to get a feel for the direction of consumer spending, which constitutes the largest portion of the economy. Despite the gain in sentiment, Hurricane Sandy may hurt retail sales, said Andrew Grantham, an economist at CIBC World Markets.
“However, we continue to expect stronger spending in 2013, as consumers work down pent-up demand in areas such as autos and other durable goods related to the housing sector,” Grantham said.