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The number of consumers who said they believe the economy is improving nearly doubled last month from February, according to new survey data Discover Financial Services released today. The Riverwoods, Ill.-based company's U.S. Spending Monitor last month rose 3.8 points to 79.5 after hitting an all-time low of 75.7 in February. The index was pegged at 100 when Discover introduced it in May 2007. Discover's consumer-confidence gauge hit bottom in February when an all-time low of 8% of those surveyed said they thought the economy was improving. Some 15% of consumers surveyed in March said they believed the economy is getting better. Consumer pessimism also abated in March, when 61% of those surveyed said they thought conditions were getting worse, compared with 70% who said so in February. Consumers remain extremely cautious about spending. Some 28% of consumers surveyed in March said they plan to spend less in the immediate future compared with 17% who plan to spend more. Asked what they would do with extra money if they had it, 38% of respondents said they would use it to pay down either a mortgage or credit card debt, and 33% said they would save the money. Only 10% planned to buy something they had been putting off, and 2% said they would go on a vacation with the extra money. Rasmussen reports conducted the telephone survey of 15,000 U.S. adults each evening throughout the month.
