Consumers’ moods about the economy improved in September while a jump in new-home sales and a decline in orders for long-lasting goods offered a mixed picture of demand at the end of the summer.
The consumer-confidence index, which measures American attitudes toward jobs and the economy, rose in September for the second month in a row, in part driven by falling gas prices, the Conference Board said Tuesday. The index, which rose in September to 108 from 103.6, had fallen earlier in the year as energy prices surged and the highest inflation in four decades weighed on the economy.
