After dipping in April, The Conference Board’s Consumer Confidence Index edged up in May.
The Index now stands at 109.8 (1985=100), up from 108.5 in April. While the Present Situation Index climbed from 106.8 to 110.3, the Expectations Index fell slightly to 109.4, compared with 109.6 in April.
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The Consumer Confidence Survey is based on a representative sample of 5,000 U.S. households. The monthly survey is conducted for The Conference Board by NFO WorldGroup, a member of The Interpublic Group of Companies.
Economic Growth to Continue
“Consumers’ upbeat mood about current business and labor conditions underscores the economy’s continuing recovery, but the latest retreat in expectations suggest that the pace of economic growth will not accelerate in the months ahead,” said Lynn Franco, Director of The Conference Board’s Consumer Research Center.
More than 21 percent of consumers rated current business conditions as “good,” up from 19.7 percent in April, and 18.8 percent label current conditions as “bad,” down from 19.4 percent in April. Some 20.9 percent said jobs are plentiful, the same figure recorded last month. Consumers claiming jobs are “hard to get” fell to 21.9 percent in May, down from 22.7 percent in April.
The outlook for the next six months remains cautiously optimistic.
Some 24.9 percent look for business conditions to improve, compared with 26 percent in April. Those expecting business conditions to deteriorate rose from 6.4 percent to 6.7 percent in May. A smaller percentage of consumers expect fewer jobs to become available — 13.7 percent versus 14.8 percent in April. Fewer consumers — 20.6 percent today versus 21.1 percent in April — expect their incomes to increase during the next six months.
