NEW YORK, May 28, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- The Conference
Board Consumer Confidence Index® improved
in May, following an increase in April. The Index now stands at
134.1 (1985=100), up from 129.2 in April. The Present Situation
Index – based on consumers' assessment of current business and
labor market conditions – increased from 169.0 to 175.2. The
Expectations Index – based on consumers' short-term outlook for
income, business and labor market conditions – increased from 102.7
last month to 106.6 this month.
"Consumer Confidence posted another gain in May and is now back
to levels seen last Fall when the Index was hovering near 18-year
highs," said Lynn Franco, Senior
Director of Economic Indicators at The Conference Board. "The
increase in the Present Situation Index was driven primarily by
employment gains. Expectations regarding the short-term outlook for
business conditions and employment improved, but consumers'
sentiment regarding their income prospects was mixed. Consumers
expect the economy to continue growing at a solid pace in the
short-term, and despite weak retail sales in April, these high
levels of confidence suggest no significant pullback in consumer
spending in the months ahead."
The monthly Consumer Confidence
Survey®, based on a probability-design random
sample, is conducted for The Conference Board by Nielsen, a leading
global provider of information and analytics around what consumers
buy and watch. The cutoff date for the preliminary results was
May 16.
Consumers' assessment of present-day conditions improved further
in May. Those stating business conditions are "good" increased from
37.6 percent to 38.3 percent, while those saying business
conditions are "bad" decreased from 11.3 percent to 10.2 percent.
Consumers' assessment of the labor market was also more positive.
The percentage of consumers stating jobs are "plentiful" increased
from 46.5 percent to 47.2 percent, while those claiming jobs are
"hard to get" declined from 13.3 percent to 10.9 percent.
Consumers expressed greater optimism about the short-term
outlook in May. The percentage of consumers expecting business
conditions will be better six months from now increased from 19.4
percent to 21.9 percent, while those expecting business conditions
will worsen declined from 9.0 percent to 8.4 percent.
Consumers' outlook for the labor market was also more favorable.
The proportion expecting more jobs in the months ahead increased
from 16.7 percent to 19.2 percent, while those anticipating fewer
jobs declined from 13.2 percent to 12.5 percent. Regarding their
short-term income prospects, the percentage of consumers expecting
an improvement increased from 21.5 percent to 22.6 percent,
however, the proportion expecting a decrease rose from 6.8 percent
to 8.2 percent.
Source: May 2019 Consumer
Confidence Survey®
The Conference Board / Release #6093
The Conference Board publishes the Consumer Confidence
Index® at 10 a.m. ET
on the last Tuesday of every month. Subscription information and
the technical notes to this series are available on The Conference
Board website:
https://www.conference-board.org/data/consumerdata.cfm.
About The Conference Board
The Conference Board is the
member-driven think tank that delivers trusted insights for what's
ahead. Founded in 1916, we are a non-partisan, not-for-profit
entity holding 501 (c) (3) tax-exempt status in the United States.
www.conference-board.org.
About NIELSEN
Nielsen Holdings plc (NYSE: NLSN)
is a global performance management company that provides a
comprehensive understanding of what consumers watch and buy.
Nielsen's Watch segment provides media and advertising clients with
Total Audience measurement services for all devices on which
content — video, audio and text — is consumed. The Buy segment
offers consumer packaged goods manufacturers and retailers the
industry's only global view of retail performance measurement. By
integrating information from its Watch and Buy segments and other
data sources, Nielsen also provides its clients with analytics that
help improve performance. Nielsen, an S&P 500 company, has
operations in over 100 countries, covering more than 90 percent of
the world's population. For more information,
visit www.nielsen.com.
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SOURCE The Conference Board