U.S. Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index up in April

The Index now stands at 68.1 compared with 61.9 in March. In addition, the Present Situation Index increased to 60.4 from 59.2, and the Expectations Index rose to 73.3 from 63.7 last month.

“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 moderately in April. Those saying business conditions were “good” rose to 17.2 percent from 16.4 percent, while those replying that business conditions are “bad” decreased to 28.1 percent from 29.1 percent.

A clear picture of the state of the jobs market was not provided by consumers’ responses, since those claiming jobs are “plentiful” edged up to 9.8 percent from 9.5 percent, while those saying that jobs are “hard to get” increased to 37.1 percent from 35.4 percent.

Consumers appear to be much more optimistic regarding the short-term outlook. The percentage of consumers expecting business conditions to improve over the next six months increased to 16.9 percent from 15.0 percent, while those predicting business conditions would decline decreased to 15.1 percent from 17.7 percent.

Consumers’ outlook for the labor market was also more positive. Those expecting more jobs in the months ahead improved to 14.2 percent from 13.0 percent, while those expecting fewer jobs decreased to 22.4 percent from 26.0 percent.

The proportion of consumers expecting their incomes to increase rose to 16.8 percent from 14.6 percent, while those expecting a decrease declined to 16.0 percent from 17.7 percent.