Consumer Confidence Index Up to 51.9 in July

The consumer confidence index increased in July, rising to 51.9 from an upwardly revised 51.0 last month, the Conference Board reported yesterday.

The June index reading was originally reported as 50.4.

Economists polled by IFR Markets predicted the index would fall to 50.0.

The present situation index fell to 65.3 from an upwardly revised 65.4, originally reported as 64.5, while the expectations index increased to 43.0 from an upwardly revised 41.4 last month, originally reported as 41.0.

“Consumers’ assessment of current conditions was little changed, suggesting there has been no significant improvement, nor significant deterioration, in business or labor market conditions,” said Lynn Franco, director of the Conference Board’s consumer research center. “Looking ahead, while consumers remain extremely grim about short-term prospects, the modest improvement in expectations, often a harbinger of economic times to come, bears careful watching over the next few months.”

Business conditions were called “good” by 13.1% of respondents in July, an increase from 11.5% the prior month. Those saying conditions are “bad” rose to 32.8% from 31.9%.

The percentage of consumers expecting a pickup in business conditions in the next half-year rose to 9.3% from 8.5%, while 32.4% said they expect conditions to worsen, down from 33.5%.

On the jobs front, those who believe jobs are “plentiful” decreased to 13.5% in July from 14.1% in June, while the number saying jobs are “hard to get” increased to 30.3% from 29.7%. The respondents who see more jobs becoming available in a six-month perioed inched up to 8.2% from 8.0%. Those expecting fewer jobs to become available grew to 37.1% from 35.7%, the Conference Board reported.

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