The Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index rose 4.3 points in September, to 104.5 points (where 1985=100 points), after falling sharply in August to 100.2.
Meanwhile, the independent board’s Present Situation Index rose to 127.7, from August’s 123.9, and its Expectations Index rose to 89.0 from last month’s 84.4 points.
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“A more favorable assessment of current conditions, coupled with a less pessimistic short-term outlook, boosted consumer confidence this month,” Lynn Franco, director of The Conference Board Consumer Research Center, said in the board’s Sept. 26 news release. “However, even though consumers’ concerns have eased, there is little to suggest a significant change in economic activity as we enter the final quarter of 2006.”
The monthly Consumer Confidence Survey is based on a representative sample of 5,000 U.S. households. It is conducted for the Conference Board by TNS, the world’s largest custom research company.
In the survey, consumers saying current conditions are “good” increased to 27.4 percent, from August’s 26.2 percent. Those saying conditions are “bad” declined to 15.4 percent, from last month’s 16.6 percent.
In the next six months, only 10.6 percent expect business conditions to worsen, down from August’s 12.9 percent. But those expecting an improvement in the next six months held steady at 16.3 percent.
Respondents saying jobs are “plentiful” rose to 25.9 percent, from August’s 24.5 percent. But those saying jobs are “hard to get” also rose, to 21.3 percent from the previous month’s 21.1 percent.
Those saying more jobs will become available in the next six months edged up to 14.4 percent, from last month’s 14.2 percent, while those predicting jobs to become scarcer declined 17.1 percent from August’s 18.1 percent.
Consumers expecting their own incomes to increase in the next half-year rose to 19.7 percent, from August’s 17.9 percent.
Source: The Conference Board’s September 2006 Consumer Confidence Index
