NEW YORK - The consumer confidence index gained to 70.4 in February from an upwardly revised 64.8 last month, The Conference Board reported this morning.
Economists polled by Thomson Reuters predicted the index would be 65.0.
The January index was originally reported as 60.6.
The present situation index jumped to 33.4 from an upwardly revised 31.1, originally reported as 31.0, while the expectations index increased to 95.1 from an upwardly revised 87.3 last month, originally reported as 80.3.
“The consumer confidence index is now at a three-year high (Feb. 2008 76.4), due to growing optimism about the short-term future,” said Lynn Franco, director of The Conference Board's Consumer Research Center. “Consumers’ assessment of current business and labor market conditions has improved moderately, but still remains rather weak. Looking ahead, consumers are more positive about the economy and their income prospects, but feel somewhat mixed about employment conditions.”
Business conditions were called “good” by 12.4% of respondents in February, an increase from 11.3% the prior month. Those saying conditions are “bad” remained at 39.6%.
The percentage of consumers expecting a pickup in business conditions in the next half year grew to 24.4% from 24.0%, while 10.4% said they expect conditions to worsen, down from 12.2% the prior month.
On the jobs front, those who believe jobs are “plentiful” climbed to 4.9% in February from 4.6% in January, while the number saying jobs are “hard to get” decreased to 45.7% this survey from 47.0%. The respondents who see more jobs becoming available in a half year, slid to 19.8% from 20.8%. Those expecting fewer jobs to become available fell to 15.4% from 21.2%, The Conference Board reported.
Income expectations were better, with 17.3% of consumers anticipating an increase in their income in the next six months, up from the prior month's 15.3%, while 13.8% expect their income to decrease, down from 14.0% in the prior month’s survey.
The number of consumers who expected to buy a home in the next six months decreased to 4.4% from 5.2%, while the number of respondents planning to buy a car increased to 13.2% from 10.9%. Fewer consumers than last month said they plan to buy a major appliance in the next six months (46.7% vs. 47.3%).
Fewer respondents than last month (45.1% vs. 51.1%) 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 26.0%-22.8% margin.
The consumer confidence survey is based on a probability design random sample by the Nielsen Company.
