QUERETARO, Mexico, Dec. 31 (UPI) -- A New Year dawns and, with it, hope rises. The U.S. stock market has had two bad years, the U.S. economy one. Recovery in 2002: yes or no?

Christmas is a time of belief and Christmas week has fortified those who believe in swift recovery for the U.S. economy.

The private research group, the Conference Board, released Friday its Consumer Confidence Index for December. After three months of deep declines the index rebounded in December to 93.7, up from 84.9 in November. The Expectations Index leaped, from 77.3 to 91.5. Suddenly Americans feel much more optimistic about economic prospects.

"The deterioration in current economic conditions appears to be reaching a plateau, led by a stabilizing employment scenario," says Lynn Franco, Director of The Conference Board's Consumer Research Center. "Consumers' short-term optimism is no longer at recession levels, and the upward trend signals that the economy may be close to bottoming out and that a rebound by mid-2002 is likely."

So we have one vote, from the Conference Board, for a swift recovery.