NEW YORK - The consumer confidence index climbed to 53.5 in August from an upwardly revised 51.0 last month, The Conference Board reported this morning.
The July index was originally reported as 50.4.
Economists polled by Thomson Reuters predicted the index would be 50.4.
The present situation index slipped to 24.9 from an upwardly revised 26.4, originally reported as 26.1, while the expectations index increased to 72.5 from an upwardly revised 67.5 last month, originally reported as 66.6.
“Consumer confidence posted a modest gain in August, the result of an improvement in consumers’ short-term outlook,” said Lynn Franco, director of The Conference Board's Consumer Research Center. “Consumers’ assessment of current conditions, however, was less favorable as employment concerns continue to weigh heavily on consumers’ attitudes. Expectations about future business and labor market conditions have brightened somewhat, but overall, consumers remain apprehensive about the future. All in all, consumers are about as confident today as they were a year ago (August 2009, 54.5).”
Business conditions were called “good” by 8.7% of respondents in August, a decrease from 8.8% the prior month. Those saying conditions are “bad” fell to 41.9% from 43.3%.
The percentage of consumers expecting a pickup in business conditions in the next half year grew to 17.0% from 15.8%, while 13.4% said they expect conditions to worsen, down from 15.3% the prior month.
On the jobs front, those who believe jobs are “plentiful” dipped to 3.8% in August from 4.4% in July, while the number saying jobs are “hard to get” increased to 45.7% this survey from 45.1%. The respondents who see more jobs becoming available in a half year, rose to 14.6% from 14.2%. Those expecting fewer jobs to become available fell to 19.4% from 20.9%, The Conference Board reported.
Income expectations improved, with 10.6% of consumers anticipating an increase in their income in the next six months, unchanged from the prior month's 10.6%, while 16.1% expect their income to decrease, down from 17.7% in the prior month’s survey.
The number of consumers who expected to buy a home in the next six months climbed to 2.0% from 1.9%, while the number of respondents planning to buy a car grew to 5.0% from 4.7%. Fewer consumers than last month said they plan to buy a major appliance in the next six months (25.1% vs. 28.3%).
More respondents than last month (38.5% vs. 36.5%) 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 20.0%-16.7% margin.
The consumer confidence survey is based on a representative sample of 5,000 U.S. households for The Conference Board by TNS.
