EmailEconomic
Last Update: 28-May-13 10:53 ET
Consumer Confidence
Highlights
- The Conference Board's Consumer Confidence report for May brought encouraging news with the index rising to 76.2 from 68.1 in April. The Briefing.com consensus expected a reading of 72.5.
- The May number is the highest since February 2008.
Key Factors
- The Present Situations Index jumped to 66.7 from 61.0 while the Expectations Index improved to 82.4 from 74.3.
- The uptick in confidence fits with the improvement in labor market conditions and fits neatly with the ongoing strength in the stock market and housing market that have produced their share of positive-sounding headlines.
- Higher confidence readings support the notion that the shock of the higher payroll tax and sequester issues has started to wear off.
Big Picture
- The May report is encouraging. Income gains of course are the main catalyst for spending, yet rising levels of confidence over time tend to help on matters of discretionary spending.
| Category | MAY | APR | MAR | FEB | JAN |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Conference Board | 76.2 | 68.1 | 61.9 | 68.0 | 58.4 |
| Expectations | 82.4 | 74.3 | 63.7 | 72.4 | 59.9 |
| Present Situation | 66.7 | 61.0 | 59.2 | 61.4 | 56.2 |
| Employment ('plentiful' less 'hard to get') | -25.4 | -27.2 | -27.3 | -26.8 | -28.1 |
| 1 yr inflation expectations | 5.3% | 5.5% | 5.5% | 5.8% | 5.7% |
