The Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index Declined in May

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The Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index, which had decreased in April, declined slightly in May. The Index now stands at 117.9 (1985=100), down from 119.4 in April. The Present Situation Index increased marginally from 140.3 to 140.7, while the Expectations Index declined from 105.4 last month to 102.6 in May.

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 18.

“Consumer confidence decreased slightly in May, following a moderate decline in April,” said Lynn Franco, Director of Economic Indicators at The Conference Board. “However, consumers’ assessment of present-day conditions held steady, suggesting little change in overall economic conditions. Looking ahead, consumers were somewhat less upbeat than in April, but overall remain optimistic that the economy will continue expanding into the summer months.”

Consumers’ appraisal of current conditions held steady in May. Those saying business conditions are “good” edged down from 30.8% to 29.4%, but those saying business conditions are “bad” was unchanged at 13.7%. Consumers’ assessment of the labor market also remained positive. Those stating jobs are “plentiful” declined marginally from 30.3% to 29.9%, however, those claiming jobs are “hard to get” decreased from 19.4% to 18.2%.

Consumers were less optimistic about the short-term outlook in May. The percentage of consumers expecting business conditions to improve over the next six months decreased from 25.1% to 21.3%, however, those expecting business conditions to worsen declined marginally from 10.4% percent to 10.1%.

Consumers’ outlook for the labor market was mixed. The proportion expecting more jobs in the months ahead declined from 21.9% to 18.6%, but those anticipating fewer jobs decreased from 13.8% to 12.0%. The percentage of consumers expecting their incomes to increase edged up from 18.7% to 19.2%, but the proportion expecting a decrease also rose, from 7.6% to 8.7%.

About The Conference Board

The Conference Board is a global, independent business membership and research association working in the public interest. Our mission is unique: To provide the world's leading organizations with the practical knowledge they need to improve their performance and better serve society. Winner of the Consensus Economics 2016 Forecast Accuracy Award (U.S.), The Conference Board is a non-advocacy, not-for-profit entity holding 501 (c) (3) tax-exempt status in the United States.

About Nielsen

Nielsen Holdings plc 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.