Consumer Confidence Increased Moderately in May

Washington, DC, May 26, 2015—The Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index, which declined in April to 94.3, increased moderately to 95.4 in May.

The Present Situation Index increased from 105.1 last month to 108.1 in May. The Expectations Index edged down to 86.9 from 87.1 in April.

Consumers’ assessment of current-day conditions improved in May. Those saying business conditions are “good” edged down from 25.5% to 25.2%. However, those claiming business conditions are “bad” also decreased from 19.2% to 17.4%.

Consumers were mixed in their assessment of the job market. Those stating jobs are “plentiful” increased from 19.0% to 20.7%, while those claiming jobs are “hard to get” rose from 25.9% to 27.3%.

Consumers’ optimism about the short-term outlook edged down in May. The percentage of consumers expecting business conditions to improve over the next six months inched up from 15.4% to 15.6%, while those expecting business conditions to worsen also increased, from 9.1% to 10.8%.

Consumers’ outlook for the labor market, however, improved. Those anticipating more jobs in the months ahead increased from 13.8% to 14.6%, while those anticipating fewer jobs declined from 16.4% to 15.5%.

The proportion of consumers expecting growth in their incomes was unchanged at 17.4%, while the proportion expecting a decline increased slightly from 10.8% to 11.1%.