Poll: U.S. consumers less pessimistic

PRINCETON, N.J., Jan. 8 (UPI) -- An index of U.S. consumer expectations showed some guarded optimism this week, a private research group said.

The difference between respondents in a national survey of consumer indicating the economy is "getting worse" and those indicating it was "getting better" improved to minus 50 points in the week ending Jan. 4, Gallup Poll researchers said.

In mid-December, the index of consumer sentiment was at minus 70, Gallup said.

The increased optimism -- more accurately, the decreased pessimism -- held true for respondents in lower and upper income brackets, Gallup said.

Given President-elect Barack Obama's description of the economy as "dire" and other negative signals, "it seems rather ironic that consumer expectations for the future of the U.S. economy have improved somewhat," Gallup Chief Economist Dennis Jacobe said in a statement.

The "uptick," Jacobe said, could be attributed to holiday cheer, lower gas prices or talk of a new economic stimulus package, Jacobe said.

The survey results are based on no fewer than 1,000 daily interviews and carry a sampling margin of error of plus and minus 1 percentage point, Gallup said.