U.S. Conference Board Records Rise in April Consumer Confidence Index

The U.S. Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index, which is closely watched by financial analysts and government officials, rose last month after dropping in March.

It stands at 68.1 for April from 61.9 in March. The Conference Board said the Present Situation Index also jumped – to 60.4 from 59.2 – while the Expectations Index climbed to 73.3 from 63.7 in April.

“Consumer Confidence improved in April, as consumers’ expectations about the short-term economic outlook and their income prospects improved," said Lynn Franco, Director of Economic Indicators at The Conference Board:

"However, consumers’ confidence has been challenged several times over the past few months by such events as the fiscal cliff, the payroll tax hike and the sequester. Thus, while expectations appear to have bounced back, it is too soon to tell if confidence is actually on the mend.”

Consumers’ assessment of current conditions improved slightly in April. Those claiming business conditions were “good” jumped to 17.2 percent from 16.4 percent, and those saying business conditions were “bad” slipped to 28.1 percent from 29.1 percent.

Views of the jobs market were mixed, with those claiming jobs are “plentiful” up to 9.8 percent from 9.5 percent, and those saying that jobs are “hard to get” rising to 37.1 percent from 35.4 percent.

Consumers seem to be more upbeat about the short-term outlook, however. The percentage of consumers expecting business conditions to ameliorate over the next six months rose to 16.9 percent from 15.0 percent, while those seeing declining business conditions falling to 15.1 percent from 17.7 percent.

Consumers saw a rosier outlook for the labor market, with those forecasting more jobs in the coming months rising to 14.2 percent from 13.0 percent, and those predicting fewer jobs falling to 22.4 percent from 26.0 percent.

As for consumers expecting rising incomes, they jumped to 16.8 percent from 14.6 percent, while people seeing a decrease dropped to 16.0 percent from 17.7 percent.