Consumer "confidence"?

["R. Anders Schneiderman" <anders@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

This morning, I heard a report on the radio which said that the economy
was bound to pick up because "consumer confidence" was much higher than
its been for quite some time.  In the next breath, they mentioned that
something like only 13% of those surveyed thought that the job market was
decent and that 31% thought the job market was terrible.  I assume
"consumer confidence" is a composite of several different indicators, but
am I missing something or is this pretty crazy?  If most people in the
U.S. have no confidence in the job market, how can anyone say with a
straight face that consumer confidence is high or that if "it" is it's a
useful indicator?

Thanks,
Anders Schneiderman
UC Berkeley