NEW YORK - The consumer confidence index climbed to 54.1 in November from a downwardly revised 49.9 last month, The Conference Board reported Tuesday.
The October index was originally reported as 50.2.
Economists polled by Thomson Reuters predicted the index would be 52.0.
The present situation index gained to 24.0 from a downwardly revised 23.5, originally reported as 23.9, while the expectations index increased to 74.2 from a downwardly revised 67.5 last month, originally reported as 67.8.
“Consumer confidence is now at its highest level in five months, a welcome sign as we enter the holiday season,” said Lynn Franco, director of The Conference Board's Consumer Research Center. “Consumers’ assessment of the current state of the economy and job market, while only slightly better than last month, suggests the economy is still expanding, albeit slowly. Expectations, the main driver of this month’s increase in confidence, are now at the highest level since May (84.6). Hopefully, the improvement in consumers’ mood will continue in the months ahead.”
Business conditions were called “good” by 8.1% of respondents in November, a slight decrease from 8.3% the prior month. Those saying conditions are “bad” rose to 43.6% from 42.3%.
The percentage of consumers expecting a pickup in business conditions in the next half year grew to 16.7% from 15.8%, while 12.1% said they expect conditions to worsen, down from 14.4% the prior month.
On the jobs front, those who believe jobs are “plentiful” climbed to 4.0% in November from 3.5% in October, while the number saying jobs are “hard to get” increased to 46.5% this survey from 46.3%. The respondents who see more jobs becoming available in a half year, rose to 15.5% from 14.5%. Those expecting fewer jobs to become available fell to 18.8% from 22.3%, The Conference Board reported.
Income expectations were mixed, with 10.6% of consumers anticipating an increase in their income in the next six months, up from the prior month's 9.7%, while 17.3% expect their income to decrease, up from 16.0% in the prior month’s survey.
The number of consumers who expected to buy a home in the next six months decreased to 1.7% from 2.2%, while the number of respondents planning to buy a car increased to 5.4% from 5.2%. Fewer consumers than last month said they plan to buy a major appliance in the next six months (24.4% vs. 25.4%).
More respondents than last month (39.3% 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 a 22.8%-13.4% margin.
The consumer confidence survey is based on a representative sample of 5,000 U.S. households for The Conference Board by TNS.
