Consumers Slightly More Optimistic In August
After dipping in July, consumer confidence ticked upward in August, rising 0.5 of a percentage point over last month, the Conference Board said today.
The board’s Consumer Confidence Index was up to 81.5 for August.
“Consumer confidence increased slightly in August, a result of improving short-term expectations,” Lynn Franco, director of economic indicators said. “Consumers were moderately more upbeat about business, job and earning prospects. In fact, income expectations, which had declined sharply earlier this year with the payroll tax hike, have rebounded to their highest level in two and a half years.”
The Expectations Index was up 2.7 points in August, to 88.7.
However, consumer sentiment about current business and labor market conditions declined over the month by 2.9 points, to 70.7. The percentage of respondents who described business conditions as “good” was down to 18.4 percent, from 20.8 percent. Meanwhile, 24.8 percent said conditions were bad. That was on par with July’s reading.
The percentage of people saying jobs are “plentiful” was down 0.9 of a percentage point in August, to 11.4 percent, while 33 percent said jobs are hard to get.
Consumers’ expectations improved in August after falling in July, with 20.1 percent saying they expect business conditions to improve over the next six months. That was up slightly from 19.9 percent in July. The outlook on the labor market was also more optimistic, with 17.6 percent expecting more jobs in the months ahead, up from 16.7 percent in July.
WBJ Web Partners
Most Recent
Most Recent
0 Comments