American consumer confidence is slowly returning to its optimistic, pre-hurricane levels, a private research group said Tuesday. The Conference Board said that January saw a significant increase in consumer confidence, with Americans feeling better about the economy than they have since June 2002. "This month's increase was driven solely by consumers' assessment of current economic conditions, especially their more positive view of the job market," said Lynn Franco, director of The Conference Board Consumer Research Center, in a statement. The figure is significant because growing optimism is usually interpreted by economists as a sign that consumers are willing to spend more.
