The consumer confidence index rose to 65.4 in April, up from an upwardly revised 63.8 in March, the Conference Board reported Tuesday. Consumers saw several signs of improvement, while economists polled by Thomson Reuters predicted the index would be 64.5 for April.
Consumers’ view of the present situation was up to 39.6 in April from 37.5 in March .Economists say rising gasoline prices had pushed down their views in March. Expectations were also up, to 82.6 from 81.3 over the month.
The labor market outlook improved from March. Survey participants as who saw jobs as difficult to get fell to 41.8% from 44.4%, while those who said jobs were plentiful rose to 5.2% from 4.6%.
