Consumer confidence in the US fell in May, The Conference Board reported today. The Consumer Conference Index now stands at 102.3 (1985=100), down from an upwardly revised 103.7 in April.
“Consumer confidence declined in May as consumers’ view of current conditions became somewhat less upbeat while their expectations remained gloomy,” said Ataman Ozyildirim, senior director of economics at The Conference Board. “Their assessment of current employment conditions saw the most significant deterioration, with the proportion of consumers reporting jobs are ‘plentiful’ falling four points from 47.5% in April to 43.5% in May.”
Ozyildirim noted consumers also became more downbeat about future business conditions, weighing on the expectations index. However, expectations for jobs and incomes over the next six months held relatively steady.
The Present Situation Index — based on consumers’ assessment of current business and labor market conditions — decreased to 148.6 (1985=100) from 151.8 last month.
The Expectations Index — based on consumers’ short-term outlook for income, business, and labor market conditions — also decreased slightly to 71.5 (1985=100) from 71.7 in April. It has now remained below 80 — the level associated with a recession within the next year — every month since February 2022, except for a brief uptick in December 2022, according to the Conference Board.
Consumers’ appraisal of the labor market deteriorated in May as 43.5% of consumers said jobs were plentiful, down from 47.5%. In addition, 12.5% of consumers said jobs were hard to get, up from 10.6% in April.
However, consumers’ assessment about the short-term labor market outlook was slightly more favorable. While 13.6% of consumers expect more jobs to be available, down from 14.3% in April, 20.2% anticipate fewer jobs, down from 21.3%.