NEW YORK - The consumer confidence index fell to 60.8 in May from an upwardly revised 66.0 last month, The Conference Board reported Tuesday.
Economists polled by Thomson Reuters predicted the index would be 66.5.
The April index was originally reported as 65.4.
The present situation index dipped to 39.3 from 40.2, while the expectations index dropped to 75.2 from 83.2.
“A more pessimistic outlook is the primary reason for this month’s decline in consumer confidence,” said Lynn Franco, director of The Conference Board's Consumer Research Center. “Consumers are considerably more apprehensive about future business and labor market conditions as well as their income prospects. Inflation concerns, which had eased last month, have picked up once again. On the other hand, consumers’ assessment of current conditions declined only modestly, suggesting no significant pickup or deterioration in the pace of growth.”
Business conditions were called “good” by 14.6% of respondents in May, a decrease from 15.5% the prior month. Those saying conditions are “bad” climbed to 37.1% from 35.9%.
The percentage of consumers expecting a pickup in business conditions in the next half year fell to 17.0% from 19.2%, while 15.5% said they expect conditions to worsen, up from 14.0% the prior month.
On the jobs front, those who believe jobs are “plentiful” gained to 5.6% in May from 5.1% in April, while the number saying jobs are “hard to get” increased to 43.9% this survey from 42.4%. The respondents who see more jobs becoming available in a half year, slid to 15.9% from 17.8%. Those expecting fewer jobs to become available grew to 20.8% from 18.7%, The Conference Board reported.
Income expectations were worse, with 14.8% of consumers anticipating an increase in their income in the next six months, off from the prior month's 17.0%, while 15.2% expect their income to decrease, up from 14.7% in the prior month’s survey.
The number of consumers who expected to buy a home in the next six months remained at 5.0%, while the number of respondents planning to buy a car rose to 13.8% from 12.5%. Fewer consumers than last month said they plan to buy a major appliance in the next six months (47.3% vs. 49.0%).
Fewer respondents than last month (43.9% vs. 45.5%) 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 23.8%-21.6% margin.
The consumer confidence survey is based on a probability design random sample by the Nielsen Company.
