Conference Board News Release (07/29/14)
The Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index, which had improved in June, increased in July. The index now stands at 90.9, up from 86.4 in June. The Present Situation Index increased to 88.3 from 86.3, while the Expectations Index rose to 92.7 from 86.4.
“Consumer confidence increased for the third consecutive month and is now at its highest level since October 2007 (95.2),” says Lynn Franco, director of economic indicators at the Conference Board. “Strong job growth helped boost consumers’ assessment of current conditions, while brighter short-term outlooks for the economy and jobs, and to a lesser extent personal income, drove the gain in expectations. Recent improvements in consumer confidence, in particular expectations, suggest the recent strengthening in growth is likely to continue into the second half of this year.”
Consumers’ assessment of both current and future conditions improved in July. Those saying jobs are “plentiful” increased to 15.9% from 14.6%, while those claiming jobs are “hard to get” remained unchanged at 30.7%. Those anticipating more jobs in the months ahead increased to 19.1% from 16.3%, while those anticipating fewer jobs declined to 16.4% from 18.4%.