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  • Consumer sentiment in January hits 11-year high

    New York -- Consumers are feeling bullish, buoyed by low gas prices and an improving job market. The University of Michigan preliminary consumer sentiment index for January rose to an 11-year high of 98.2, from a final reading of 93.6 for December.

  • Study: Discover Cards have best return extension plan

    Arlington, Va. – Consumers who may need some time to decide if they want to keep a purchase should consider applying for a Discover card. According to the 2015 Credit Card Extension Report from CardHub, Discover Cards received top overall score (98%) for their return extension program.

    Coming in second and third were Chase Sapphire Preferred (88%), and a tie among Chase Freedom, Barclaycard Arrival and Barclaycard Arrival Plus (79%).

  • Minimum wage increases take effect in 20 states

    New York -- The minimum wage rose in 20 U.S. states and in the District of Columbia on Jan. 1.

    The increase brings the total number of states with a minimum wage above the federal wage floor to 29, according to the New York Times. The federal minimum wage is $7.25 an hour.

    Nine states are increasing their minimum wage levels through automatic adjustments for cost-of-living expenses and other economic factors. Increases in the other states occurred through legislative or ballot changes.

  • Millennials more likely to impulse-shop

    The urge to impulse-shop during the holidays runs strong among Americans, but even stronger among a particular age group, according to a new survey.

    About 83% of Millennials admit to having made an impulse purchase in the past, according to the Chase Blueprint Holiday Impulse Purchases Survey. And when they shop online or on pay day, this urge exceeds that of all other age groups.

  • Millennials more likely to make impulse holiday purchases

    Wilmington, Del. - The urge to impulse shop during the holidays runs strong among Americans, but even stronger among Millennials. According to the Chase Blueprint Holiday Impulse Purchases Survey, 83% of Millennials admit to having made an impulse purchase in the past.   

  • Study: Customers less satisfied in Q3

    Ann Arbor, Mich. – Rolling Stones fans will sympathize with the devilish problem facing American customers, who couldn’t get satisfaction in the third quarter of 2014. The national level of customer satisfaction fell 0.7% in the third quarter of 2014 to 75.6 on a 100-point scale, according to the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI), pointing to weak spending growth for the fourth quarter.   

  • Conference Board: Consumer confidence down unexpectedly in November

    Washington - The Conference Board said Tuesday that consumer confidence in November fell to a reading of 88.7, down from a revised 94.1 in October. The drop, which surprised analysts, put the index at its lowest level since June.   "Consumer confidence retreated in November, primarily due to reduced optimism in the short-term outlook,” said Lynn Franco, director of economic indicators, Conference Board.  

  • Survey – Three in 4 Americans have made impulse purchase


    Austin, Texas - Three in four Americans have made an impulse purchase. According to a new CreditCards.com report, nearly 90% of millennials said they had made an impulse purchase, compared to just 56% of seniors. And in an interesting finding,  men were nearly three times more likely than women to impulse buy while “intoxicated,” while women were twice as likely as men to impulse buy while “sad.”   The most common emotions at the time of purchase? “Excited” and “bored.”

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