US consumers hit confidence high

Analysts said the pick up confidence may not help economic growth

US consumer confidence has climbed to an eight-month high, pushed up by optimism about the outlook for jobs.

The Conference Board said its index of consumer sentiment rose to 109 in December, its highest since April 2006.

That is up from a revised figure of 105.3 for November, and higher than the 102 forecast by a majority of analysts.

Despite the strong figure, analysts said that it probably did not signify a an improvement in overall economic growth towards the end of the year.

Consumer spending accounts for about two-thirds of total US economic activity.

"Given the see-saw pattern in recent months, it is too soon to tell if this boost in confidence is a genuine signal that better times are ahead," said Lynn Franco, director of the Conference Board Consumer Research Center.

Much of the improvement in December came in how consumers viewed the labour market, with almost 27% of those questioned saying that jobs were plentiful, up from 25.7% in the previous month, the Conference Board said.

A report earlier this month showed that US consumer spending had posted its biggest increase since July last month despite interest rates climbing to 5.25%.

Thursday's figures did little to lift the stock market, and key indexes fell in New York.