Are Happy Days Returning to the U.S. and Western Europe?

Better days for consumers in the U.S. and Europe may finally be near. Since the Great Recession started at the end of 2008, many consumers around the world have largely been in belt-tightening mode for much of the past five years. But the latest consumer confidence results from Nielsen showed that confidence is slowly rising in the U.S. and Europe, as consumer sentiment improved in both regions in the third quarter. Confidence in the U.S. jumped eight points to an index of 98 from the same period 12 months ago, while sentiment in Europe rose three points to 74, according to Nielsen’s latest Global Survey of Consumer Confidence.  Nielsen – Read more…