Consumer confidence improved for the third straight month, according to the Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index. The Index now stands at 81.4, up from 74.3 in May, bringing it to its highest level since January 2008 (Index 87.3).
“Consumers are considerably more positive about current business and labor market conditions than they were at the beginning of the year,” said Lynn Franco, Director of Economic Indicators at The Conference Board. “Expectations have also improved considerably over the past several months, suggesting that the pace of growth is unlikely to slow in the short-term, and may even moderately pick up.”
Consumers’ assessment of current conditions continued to improve in June. Those stating business conditions are “good” held steady at 19.1 percent, while those saying business conditions are “bad” decreased to 24.9 percent from 26.0 percent.
Consumers’ outlook for the labor market was also more optimistic. Those anticipating more jobs in the months ahead improved to 19.6 percent from 16.3 percent, while those anticipating fewer jobs decreased to 16.1 percent from 20.0 percent.
The monthly Consumer Confidence Survey, based on a probability-design random sample, is conducted for The Conference Board by Nielsen, a leading global provider of information and analytics around what consumers buy and watch.