Consumer confidence up for June

The Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index, which had improved moderately in May, increased further in June. The Index now stands at 101.4 (1985=100), up from 94.6 in May. The Present Situation Index increased from 107.1 last month to 111.6 in June, while the Expectations Index advanced to 94.6 from 86.2 in May.

The monthly Consumer Confidence Survey, based on a probability-design random sample, is conducted for The Conference Board by Nielsen, a leading global provider of information and analytics around what consumers buy and watch. The cutoff date for the preliminary results was June 18.

“Consumer confidence improved further in June, following a modest gain in May,” said Lynn Franco, Director of Economic Indicators at The Conference Board. “Over the past two months, consumers have grown more confident about the current state of business and employment conditions. In addition, they are now more optimistic about the near-term future, although sentiment regarding income prospects is little changed. Overall, consumers are in considerably better spirits and their renewed optimism could lead to a greater willingness to spend in the near-term.”

Consumers’ assessment of current conditions improved again in June. Those saying business conditions are “good” increased from 24.7 percent to 26.4 percent, while those claiming business conditions are “bad” was virtually unchanged at 17.8 percent. Consumers were also more positive about the job market. Those stating jobs are “plentiful” increased from 20.6 percent to 21.4 percent, while those claiming jobs are “hard to get” declined from 27.2 percent to 25.7 percent.

Consumers’ optimism about the short-term outlook also increased in June. The percentage of consumers expecting business conditions to improve over the next six months rose from 16.0 percent to 18.5 percent, while those expecting business conditions to worsen decreased from 11.3 percent to 9.8 percent.

Consumers’ outlook for the labor market was also more upbeat. Those anticipating more jobs in the months ahead increased from 14.7 percent to 17.8 percent, while those anticipating fewer jobs declined from 16.6 percent to 15.1 percent. The proportion of consumers expecting growth in their incomes was virtually unchanged at 17.5 percent, while the proportion expecting a decline edged down slightly from 10.7 percent to 10.2 percent.