Consumer confidence jumped in May to its highest level since September. The Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index now stands at 54.9, up from 40.8 in April.
The index is based on a representative sample of 5,000 U.S. households
“Looking ahead, consumers are considerably less pessimistic than they were earlier this year, and expectations are that business conditions, the labor market and incomes will improve in the coming months,” said Lynn Franco, director of the Conference Board Consumer Research Center. “While confidence is still weak by historical standards, as far as consumers are concerned, the worst is now behind us.”
Consumers’ appraisal of the job market was also more favorable. Those claiming jobs are “hard to get” decreased to 44.7 percent from 46.6 percent in April. Those saying jobs are “plentiful” edged up to 5.7 percent from 4.9 percent.
The employment outlook was also less pessimistic, with the percentage of consumers expecting more jobs in the months ahead increasing to 20 percent from 14.2 percent, while those anticipating fewer jobs decreased to 25.2 percent from 32.5 percent.
New Mexico Business Weekly