Consumer Confidence Continues to Improve Thanks To Healthy Jobs Growth

The recent good news on jobs has consumers finally believing the economy is improving. Data on consumer attitudes from both Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan and The Conference Board in late June showed improvement again. The UM Consumer Sentiment Index rose slightly to 82.5: The Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index, which tends to be more volatile, reached 85.2 in June, up three points from May. The latter reading was the highest since January 2008.

Both groups reported stronger assessments of current business conditions and jobs growth as factors for the rising confidence levels. The UM noted that the June survey recorded the largest proportion of households that reported making financial gains in nearly seven years. UM Surveys of Consumers Chief Economist Richard Curtin said the surprising thing during the past six months is how stable the Sentiment Index has been despite the decline in GDP in the first quarter.