Business & Finance

United States Sees Rebound in Consumer Confidence

PRNewswire - May 29th, 2001

The Conference Board's Consumer Confidence Index, which had declined in April, snapped back in May. The Index now stands at 115.5 (1985=100), up from 109.9 in April. The Present Situation Index increased from 156.0 to 158.6. The Expectations Index improved from 79.1 to 86.8. The Consumer Confidence Survey, the country's most comprehensive survey of consumer attitudes, is based on a representative sample of 5,000 U.S. households. The monthly survey is conducted for The Conference Board by NFO WorldGroup, a member of The Interpublic Group of Companies (NYSE: IPG).

CONSUMER SPENDING POINTS UPWARD

"The rebound in consumer confidence was driven by optimism about future economic conditions," says Lynn Franco, Director of The Conference Board's Consumer Research Center. "Latest findings report rising confidence about job prospects over the next six months, but reveal growing concern about the current job market. Nowhere, however, are there indications that consumers will curtail their spending, which points to continued economic growth."

Consumers rating current business conditions as "good" rose from 28.2 percent in April to 30.7 percent in May. Those rating conditions as "bad" declined from 13.2 percent to 11.8 percent. Consumers claiming jobs were "hard to get" increased from 14.2 percent to 14.7 percent. Those reporting jobs were plentiful fell slightly from 40.1 percent to 39.5 percent.

Consumers are more optimistic today than they were last month about the outlook over the next six months. Consumers expecting an upswing in business conditions increased from 14.1 percent to 16.8 percent. Those anticipating conditions to worsen declined from 14.5 percent to 13.5 percent. The employment outlook was also more upbeat. Now, 13.8 percent of consumers expect more jobs to become available, up from 12.3 percent. Those expecting fewer jobs to become available declined from 22.9 percent to 19.9 percent. American families also are more upbeat about their incomes. Today, 24.6 percent of consumers look for their incomes to climb, up from 22.7 percent in April.