Conference Board July Consumer Confidence Index Climbs to 90.9

The consumer confidence index gained to 90.9 in July from a revised 86.4 last month, The Conference Board reported Tuesday.

The index is at its highest reading since October 2007.

The June index was originally reported as 85.2.

The present situation index rose to 88.3 from a revised 86.3, first reported as 85.1, while the expectations index grew to 92.7 from a revised 86.4, first reported as 85.2.

Economists polled by Thomson Reuters predicted an 85.3 reading for the index.

"Consumer confidence increased for the third consecutive month and is now at its highest level since October 2007 (95.2)," said Lynn Franco, director of The Conference Board's Consumer Research Center. "Strong job growth helped boost consumers' assessment of current conditions, while brighter short-term outlooks for the economy and jobs, and to a lesser extent personal income, drove the gain in expectations. Recent improvements in consumer confidence, in particular expectations, suggest the recent strengthening in growth is likely to continue into the second half of this year."

Business conditions were called "good" by 22.7% of respondents in July, off from 23.4% in June. Those saying conditions are "bad" slid to 22.7% from 22.8%.

The percentage of consumers expecting a pickup in business conditions in the next half year rose to 20.2% from 18.4%, while 11.5% said they expect conditions to worsen, unchanged from the prior month.

On the jobs front, those who believe jobs are "plentiful" climbed to 15.9% in July from 14.6% in June, while the number saying jobs are "hard to get" remained 30.7%. The respondents who see fewer jobs becoming available in a half year, decreased to 16.4% from 18.4%. Those expecting more jobs to become available rose to 19.1% from 16.3%, The Conference Board reported.

The consumer confidence survey is based on a probability design random sample by the Nielsen Company.

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