Consumer confidence in the U.S. has seen a substantial improvement in the month of August, according to a report released by the Conference Board on Tuesday, with the consumer confidence index rebounding from the drop seen last month.
The Conference Board said its consumer confidence index jumped to 101.5 in August from 91.0 in July. The index had been expected to show a more modest increase to a reading of 94.0.
Lynn Franco, Director of Economic Indicators at the Conference Board said, “Consumers’ assessment of current conditions was considerably more upbeat, primarily due to a more favorable appraisal of the labor market.”
“The uncertainty expressed last month about the short-term outlook has dissipated and consumers are once again feeling optimistic about the near future,” she added. “Income expectations, however, were little improved.”
Reflecting the improved assessment of current conditions, the present situation index climbed to 115.1 in August from 104.0 in July.
The increase by the index came as consumers saying business conditions are “bad” dipped to 17.6 percent from 18.2 percent, although those saying conditions are “good” also edged down to 23.2 percent from 23.4 percent.
Consumers were considerably more positive about the job market, as those saying jobs are “plentiful” increased to 21.9 percent from 19.9 percent, while those claiming jobs are “hard to get” fell to 21.9 percent from 27.4 percent.
The report also said the expectations index surged up to 92.5 in August from 82.3 in July, reflecting an improvement in consumers’ optimism about the short-term outlook.
The Conference Board said the percentage of consumers expecting business conditions to improve over the next six months inched up to 15.8 percent from 15.3 percent, while those expecting conditions to worsen fell to 8.3 percent from 10.3 percent.
Consumers’ outlook for the labor market was also more upbeat, with those anticipating more jobs in the months ahead climbing to 14.6 percent from 13.7 percent and those anticipating fewer jobs tumbling to 13.6 percent from 19.0 percent.
Meanwhile, the percentage of consumers expecting their incomes to increase dropped to 16.2 percent from 17.0 percent, while those expecting a decline decreased to 10.0 percent from 11.3 percent.
The material has been provided by InstaForex Company – www.instaforex.com