June Consumer Confidence sees slight rise, brings cautious optimism

New York – Consumers are feeling slightly optimistic about the future as confidence levels inched up in June, according to the latest report from the Conference Board.

The Consumer Confidence Index rose 0.6 points to 91.2, up from a downwardly revised 90.6 in May. The Expectation Index – consumers’ short-term outlook for income, business and labor market conditions – also rose slightly by 3.0 points to 74.4. However, consumers were less satisfied with current conditions as the Present Situation Index fell 3.0 points to 116.4.

“Consumer confidence inched up in June as falling oil prices in recent weeks provided some relief to consumer inflation fears,” said Dana M. Peterson, chief economist at the Conference Board. “Consumer appraisals of current business conditions were slightly more positive compared to last month. However, perceptions of the current labor market softened measurably as the percentage of consumers saying jobs were ‘hard to get’ rose to 22.5 percent, the highest level since January 2021 (22.8 percent).”

Write-in responses from consumers “skew towards pessimism,” the report said, noting that reference to prices of oil and gas eased but remained elevated. There were less references to war and conflict, reflecting that consumers’ concerns about the war in the Middle East may be declining.

Here are some other points to note from this month’s report:

Present Situation

Consumers’ views of current business conditions improved in June.

• 20.0 percent of consumers said business conditions were “good,” up from 19.2 percent in May.
• 16.5 percent said business conditions were “bad,” down from 16.7 percent.

On net, consumers’ views of the labor market worsened in June.

• 24.9 percent of consumers said jobs were “plentiful,” up slightly from 24.8 percent in May.
• Conversely, 22.5 percent of consumers said jobs were “hard to get,” up from 19.8 percent.

Expectations Six Months Hence         

Consumers were more optimistic about future business conditions in June.

• 19.0 percent of consumers expected business conditions to improve, up from 18.8 percent in May.
• 20.3 percent expected business conditions to worsen, down from 23.2 percent.

On net, consumers’ negative stance about the labor market outlook was largely unchanged in June.

• 15.2 percent of consumers expected more jobs to be available, down from 16.6 percent in May.
• However, 25.6 percent anticipated fewer jobs, down from 27.0 percent.

Consumers’ outlook for their income prospects was more optimistic in June.

• 20.8 percent of consumers expected their incomes to increase, up from 19.2 percent in May.
• 13.2 percent expected their incomes to decline, down from 14.5 percent.