Americans Show Optimism About Economy

The Conference Board's index of consumer confidence rose to 92.4 in August from 90.3 in July.

U.S. consumers were more hopeful about economic conditions last month according to The Conference Board monthly report.

The August index is the highest since October 2007, just as the last recession was beginning. 

The present situation index, which measures consumers' views about contemporary economic conditions, jumped to 94.6 from 87.9 in July.

But consumer expectations for economic activity over the next six months dropped to 90.9 after that index surged to a revised 91.9 in July from 86.4 in June.

"Consumer confidence increased for the fourth consecutive month as improving business conditions and robust job growth helped boost consumers' spirits," said Lynn Franco, director of economic indicators. She said the decline in expectations mainly concerns fears about future earnings.

The consumer sector is vital to the U.S. economy, accounting for around 70 percent of GDP, and confidence among households as seen in the survey could raise hopes about spending in the second half of this year.

The Conference Board also said that its study indicated that consumers were more confident about the employment markets.

In August, 18.2 percent of consumers said they believed that jobs were "plentiful," up from 15.6 in July and the best reading since early 2008. Meanwhile, 30.6 percent believe jobs are "hard to get," down from 30.9 percent last month.

But respondents expecting more jobs in the future dropped to 17.0 percent in August versus 18.7 percent saying that a month ago, while the share anticipating fewer jobs also slipped, to 15.8 percent from 16.6 percent.

The survey also shows only 15.5 percent expect their incomes to rise in the next six months compared with 17.7 percent saying that in July. The share thinking their incomes will decline in the next six months climbed to 11.9 percent from 11.1 percent in July.