"Consumers downbeat on job, inflation worries"

The US is above Ireland, but that isn't saying very much.

A reading below 100 signals pessimism about the outlook. . . .
Nielsen Global Consumer Confidence Index in the fourth quarter, 2010 (Change from Q3 survey in brackets):

Top 10 index readings Bottom 10 index readings

India 131 (+2) Ireland 65 (-3)

Philippines 120 (+6) Hungary 59 (+5)

Norway 119 (+18) S. Korea 58 (-1)

Indonesia 116 (+1) Latvia 58 (-5)

Australia 112 (-3) Lithuania 57 (-6)

Switzerland 110 (+10) Japan 54 (+2)

Singapore 109 (-4) Romania 54 (-1)

Brazil 108 (+5) Greece 48 (-9)

Malaysia 107 (+4) Portugal 45 (+1)

Saudi Arabia 107 (-8) Croatia 45 (-13)

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Global consumer confidence average 90 (90)

United States 81 (0)

China 100 (-4)

Germany 83 (-4)

Source: The Nielsen Company