Consumer confidence in business conditions at 16-year high

The Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index improved in July and now stands at 121.1. The Present Situation Index increased from 143.9 to 147.8 and the Expectations Index rose from 99.6 to 103.3.

“Consumer confidence increased in July following a marginal decline in June,” said Lynn Franco, Director of Economic Indicators at The Conference Board. “Consumers’ assessment of current conditions remained at a 16-year high [July 2001, 151.3] and their expectations for the short-term outlook improved somewhat after cooling last month. Overall, consumers foresee the current economic expansion continuing well into the second half of this year.”    

Consumers saying business conditions are “good” increased from 30.6 percent to 33.3 percent, while those saying business conditions are “bad” was virtually unchanged at 13.5 percent. Those stating jobs are “plentiful” rose from 32.0 percent to 34.1 percent and those claiming jobs are “hard to get” decreased from 18.4 percent to 18.0 percent.

The percentage of consumers expecting business conditions to improve over the next six months increased from 20.1 percent to 22.9 percent and those expecting conditions to worsen declined from 10.0 percent to 8.2 percent.

The proportion expecting more jobs in the months ahead was unchanged at 19.2 percent, while those anticipating fewer jobs decreased from 14.6 percent to 13.3 percent. The percentage of consumers expecting an improvement in their income decline moderately from 20.9 percent to 20.0 percent and the proportion expecting a decline increased from 9.3 percent to 10.0 percent.

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