Consumer confidence rebounds slightly in March

New York City Americans' confidence in the economy rebounded in March after a February plunge but remains relatively weak amid a tough job market, according to a survey released Tuesday.

The Conference Board's Consumer Confidence Index rose to 52.5 in March, recovering only about half of the nearly 11 points it lost in February. Analysts expected a reading of 50 for March. February's 46.4 marked the lowest level since April 2009 and also erased three consecutive months of improvement. In January, the reading was 56.5.

One of the index's barometers, which measures how shoppers feel now about their economic situation now, rose to 26.0 from 21.7 in February. The other measurement, which gauges how shoppers feel about the economy over the next six months, ticked up to 70.2 from 62.9.

March's confidence report appeared to confirm that February's sharp decline may have been an aberration. Many factors had dampened last month's confidence, including severe weather that had shut businesses and thwarted job searches, and a stock market hurting because of international worry about Greece's national debt.

Still, March's reading, buoyed in part by a rally in the stock market, is still a long way from the 90 that is considered healthy, and consumers remain no more optimistic than when the economic recovery started nine months ago.

Confidence has been recovering fitfully since hitting a historic low of 25.3 in February 2009. But many economists believe it will remain well below healthy levels for at least another year or two.

"Despite the month's increase, consumers continue to express concern about current business and labor conditions," Lynn Franco, director of The Conference Board Consumer Research Center, said in a statement. "And their outlook for the next six months is still rather pessimistic."

Franco added that overall confidence has not changed significantly since last spring, when the reading hit 40.8 in April 2009 and rose to 54.8 in May.

The Conference Board survey showed some easing of worry about the job market, but Americans are still far from optimistic.

Those saying jobs are "hard to get" declined to 45.8% from 47.3%, while those saying jobs are "plentiful" increased to 4.4% from 4.0%. Those anticipating more jobs will become available over the next six months increased to 14.6% from 13.2%.