Consumer Confidence increases

Though it's still weak compared to historical levels, the Consumer Confidence Index increased in May, its third consecutive monthly gain.

The Index now stands at 63.3 (1985=100), up from 57.7 in April. The Present Situation Index increased to 30.2 from 28.2. The Expectations Index improved to 85.3 from 77.4 last month.

The Consumer Confidence Survey is based on a representative sample of 5,000 U.S. households. The monthly survey is conducted for The Conference Board by TNS. TNS is the world’s largest custom research company. The cutoff date for May's preliminary results was May 18th.

"Consumers’ apprehension about current business conditions and the job market continues to slowly dissipate," said Lynn Franco, director of The Conference Board Consumer Research Center Consumers’ expectations, on the other hand, have increased sharply over the past three months, propelling the Expectations Index to pre-recession levels (August 2007, 89.2). The improvement has been fueled primarily by growing optimism about business and labor market conditions. Income expectations, however, remain downbeat."

Consumers’ assessment of current-day conditions continued to improve in May. Those saying conditions are "good" increased to 10% from 8.9%, while those saying business conditions are "bad" declined to 39.3 percent from 40%. Consumers’ appraisal of the labor market was also more positive. Those claiming jobs are "hard to get" decreased to 43.6% from 44.8%, while those saying jobs are "plentiful" was virtually unchanged at 4.6%.