The Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index just saw a sharp increase in May, and the quote will say it all. This follows a strong April as well. The May data showed a reading of 54.9, up from 40.8 in April and way above the 43.0 reading expected from Bloomberg. The present situations index came in at 28.9 from 25.5 in April, while the Expectations index came in at 72.3 from 51.0 in April. This is actually the highest reading in 8 months.
This is some of the freshest data out there. The cut-off date was May 19, 2009 and the survey is based on data from 5,000 households. This is not yet very positive on an extreme, and it points to the second quarter being less negative than the first quarter.
As the director noted in the release, “…While confidence is still weak by historical standards, as far as consumers are concerned, the worst is now behind us.”
The data is still mixed. There was an increase in those claiming “good” and “bad” conditions, which is at least a sign that the undecideds are getting off the fence. The “good” camp was only a gain to 8.7% from 7.9%, and the “bad” camp grew to 45.3% from 44.9%. Those claiming that jobs are “hard to get” fell to 44.7% from 44.6%, and those claiming jobs are “plentiful” rose to 5.7% from 4.9%.
JON C. OGG
May 26, 2009
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