February consumer confidence drops

The early read on consumer confidence in February shows it has dropped from January, disappointing forecasters.

According to the Reuters/University of Michigan monthly survey released moments ago, the consumer confidence index dropped from a recent high of 74.4 in January to 73.7 in February. Forecasters had expected consumer confidence to continue climbing, hitting 75.

The index is broken down into two parts -- the present situation index and the expectations index.

The present situation index -- how consumers feel about their situation right now -- dropped from 84.1 in January to 81 in February.

The expectations index -- how consumers think the economy will be six months -- dropped from 70.1 in January to 66.9 in February.

The January bump could have been residual Christmas good feelings or it could have been a reaction to the fourth-quarter GDP, which came in at a 5.7 percent annual growth rate.

But a month removed, with unemployment still up around 10 percent, perhaps the optimism is fading.

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