NEW YORK - The consumer confidence index climbed to 55.9 in January from an upwardly revised 53.6 last month, The Conference Board reported this morning.
The December index was originally reported as 52.9.
Economists polled by Thomson Reuters predicted the index would be 53.5.
The present situation index rose to 25.0 from an upwardly revised 20.2, originally reported as 18.8, while the expectations index rose to 76.5 from an upwardly revised 75.9 last month, originally seen as 75.6.
“Consumer confidence rose for the third consecutive month, primarily the result of an improvement in present-day conditions,” said Lynn Franco, director of The Conference Board's Consumer Research Center. “Consumers’ short-term outlook, while moderately more positive, does not suggest any significant pickup in activity in the coming months. Regarding their financial situation, while consumers were less dire about their income prospects than in December, the number of pessimists continues to outnumber the optimists.”
Business conditions were called “good” by 9.0% of respondents in January, an increase from 7.5% the prior month. Those saying conditions are “bad” rose to 46.1% from 45.7%.
The percentage of consumers expecting a pickup in business conditions in the next half year slid to 20.9% from 21.2%, while 12.7% said they expect conditions to worsen, up from 11.8% the prior month.
On the jobs front, those who believe jobs are “plentiful” increased to 4.3% in January from 3.1% in December, while the number saying jobs are “hard to get” decreased to 47.4% this survey from 48.1%. The respondents who see more jobs becoming available in a half year, fell to 15.5% from 16.4%. Those expecting fewer jobs to become available slid to 18.9% from 20.6%, The Conference Board reported.
Income expectations were mixed, with 10.3% of consumers anticipating an increase in their income in the next six months, down from the prior month's 10.4%, while 16.2% expect their income to decrease, off from 18.4% in the prior month’s survey.
The number of consumers who expected to buy a home in the next six months crept up to 1.8% from 1.7%, while the number of respondents planning to buy a car surged to 5.1% from 3.9%. More consumers than last month said they plan to buy a major appliance in the next six months (24.7% vs. 23.6%).
Fewer respondents than last month (37.0% vs. 38.0%) 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 an 18.7%-14.6% margin.
The consumer confidence survey is based on a representative sample of 5,000 U.S. households for The Conference Board by TNS.
