Wall Street Journal (06/12/15) Kathleen Madigan

Consumers have grown more optimistic about the economy, due to expectations of bigger pay increases. The University of Michigan preliminary June sentiment index rose from 90.7 at the end of May to 94.6 in June. Economists polled by the Wall Street Journal had forecast the early June index would rise to 91.5.

“The June gain was due to the most favorable personal financial prospects since 2007, with households expecting the largest wage gains since 2008,” says Richard Curtin, chief economist at Michigan’s Survey of Consumers.

The preliminary current conditions index climbed from 100.8 at the end of May to 106.8 in June, and the expectations index rose from 84.2 to 86.8.