The consumer confidence index climbed to 69.6 in February from a downwardly revised 58.4 last month, The Conference Board reported Tuesday.
The January index was originally reported as 58.6.
The present situation index grew to 63.3 from a downwardly revised 56.2, originally reported as 57.3, while the expectations index soared to 73.8 from an upwardly revised 59.9, originally reported as 59.5.
Economists polled by Thomson Reuters predicted a 61.0 reading for the index.
"Consumer confidence rebounded in February as the shock effect caused by the fiscal cliff uncertainty and payroll tax cuts appears to have abated," said Lynn Franco, director of The Conference Board's Consumer Research Center. "Consumers' assessment of current business and labor market conditions is more positive than last month. Looking ahead, consumers are cautiously optimistic about the outlook for business and labor market conditions. Income expectations, which had turned rather negative last month, have improved modestly."
Business conditions were called "good" by 18.1% of respondents in February, up from 16.1% in January. Those saying conditions are "bad" slid to 27.8% from 28.4%.
The percentage of consumers expecting a pickup in business conditions in the next half year rose to 18.9% from 15.6%, while 16.5% said they expect conditions to worsen, down from 20.4% the prior month.
On the jobs front, those who believe jobs are "plentiful" climbed to 10.5% in February from 8.5% in January, while the number saying jobs are "hard to get" rose to 37.0% from 36.6%. The respondents who see fewer jobs becoming available in a half year, decreased to 21.5% from 26.7%. Those expecting more jobs to become available gained to 16.7% from 14.4%, The Conference Board reported.
Income expectations were better, with 15.7% of consumers anticipating an increase in their income in the next six months, up from the prior month's 13.5%, while 19.6% expect their income to decrease, down from 23.3% in the prior month's survey.
The number of consumers who expected to buy a home in the next six months dropped to 3.7% from 5.4%, while the number of respondents planning to buy a car increased to 11.1% from 10.4%. Fewer consumers than last month said they plan to buy a major appliance in the next six months (46.7% vs. 48.8%).
Fewer respondents than last month (43.6% vs. 49.2%) expect to take a vacation in the next six months, but more said they would stay in the U.S. rather than leave the country. Cars rather than airplanes were the preferred mode of travel, by a 22.9%-20.0% margin.
The consumer confidence survey is based on a probability design random sample by the Nielsen Company.
