Commentary

Consumer Confidence Index Declined Nearly Seven Points In July

Consumer Confidence Index Declined Nearly Seven Points In July

The Consumer Confidence Survey conducted for The Conference Board by NFO WorldGroup, declined in July. The Index now stands at 76.6 (1985=100), down from 83.5 in June. The Expectations Index fell to 86.4 from 96.4. The Present Situation Index declined to 61.9 from 64.2.

Lynn Franco, Director of The Conference Board's Consumer Research Center, says "The rising level of unemployment and sentiment that a turnaround in labor market conditions is not around the corner have contributed to deflating consumers' spirits this month."

Consumers' assessment of current conditions was less favorable than last month.

  • Those rating present business conditions as "bad" increased to 30.4 percent from 28.1 percent.
  • Those holding the opposite view increased to 16.3 percent from 14.9 percent.
  • Consumers claiming jobs are hard to get rose to 33.1 percent from 31.9 percent,
  • Those claiming jobs are plentiful declined to 10.5 percent from 11.2 percent.

Consumers' expectations for the next six months were less optimistic than last month.

  • Those anticipating an improvement in business conditions fell to 20.2 percent from 23.5 percent.
  • Consumers anticipating conditions to worsen rose to 11.5 percent from 9.2 percent.

The employment outlook was also less favorable.

  • Consumers anticipating more jobs to become available over the next six months declined to 16.8 percent from 18.9 percent.
  • Those expecting fewer jobs increased to 19.8 percent from 16.9 percent.
  • The proportion of consumers anticipating an increase in their incomes declined to 15.7 percent from 17.1 percent.

Source: July 2003 Consumer Confidence Index

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