Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index Decreased in July

The Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index^® decreased in July, after increasing in June. The Index now stands at 92.6 (1985=100), down from 98.3 in June. The Present Situation Index – based on consumers’ assessment of current business and labor market conditions – improved from 86.7 to 94.2. However, the Expectations Index – based on consumers’ short-term outlook for income, business, and labor market conditions – decreased from 106.1 in June to 91.5 this month.

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 July 17.

Consumers’ assessment of present-day conditions improved in July. The percentage of consumers claiming business conditions are “good” was relatively unchanged at 17.3 percent, while those claiming business conditions are “bad” decreased from 42.5 percent to 39.1 percent. Consumers’ appraisal of the job market was more favorable. The percentage of consumers saying jobs are “plentiful” increased from 20.5 percent to 21.3 percent, while those claiming jobs are “hard to get” decreased from 23.3 percent to 20.0 percent.

Consumers, however, were less optimistic about the short-term outlook. The percentage of consumers expecting business conditions will improve over the next six months declined from 42.4 percent to 31.6 percent, while those expecting business conditions will worsen increased from 15.2 percent to 19.3 percent. Consumers’ outlook for the labor market was also less favorable. The proportion expecting more jobs in the months ahead declined from 38.4 percent to 30.6 percent, while those anticipating fewer jobs in the months ahead increased from 14.4 percent to 20.3 percent. Regarding their short-term income prospects, the percentage of consumers expecting an increase was relatively unchanged at 15.1 percent, while the proportion expecting a decrease rose from 14.1 percent to 15.0 percent.