The Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index Declined Slightly in November

Confidence Levels Still Remain High, and Should Support Solid Holiday Spending

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Nov 26, 2019, 10:00 ET

NEW YORK, Nov. 26, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- The Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index^® decreased in November, following a slight decline in October. The Index now stands at 125.5 (1985=100), down from 126.1 in October. The Present Situation Index – based on consumers' assessment of current business and labor market conditions – decreased from 173.5 to 166.9. The Expectations Index – based on consumers' short-term outlook for income, business and labor market conditions – increased from 94.5 last month to 97.9 this month.

"Consumer confidence declined for a fourth consecutive month, driven by a softening in consumers' assessment of current business and employment conditions," said Lynn Franco, Senior Director of Economic Indicators at The Conference Board. "The decline in the Present Situation Index suggests that economic growth in the final quarter of 2019 will remain weak. However, consumers' short-term expectations improved modestly, and growth in early 2020 is likely to remain at around 2 percent. Overall, confidence levels are still high and should support solid spending during this holiday season."

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 November 15.

Consumers' appraisal of current-day conditions was less favorable in November. The percentage of consumers claiming business conditions are "good" rose slightly from 39.7 percent to 40.2 percent, but those claiming business conditions are "bad" also increased, from 11.0 percent to 13.8 percent. Consumers' assessment of the job market was less favorable than last month. Those saying jobs are "plentiful" decreased from 47.7 percent to 44.8 percent, while those claiming jobs are "hard to get" increased from 11.6 percent to 12.7 percent.

Consumers were moderately more optimistic about the short-term outlook. The percentage of consumers expecting business conditions will improve over the next six months decreased slightly from 18.7 percent to 17.2 percent, while those expecting business conditions will worsen increased slightly, from 11.5 percent to 12.1 percent.

Consumers' outlook for the labor market was mixed. The proportion expecting more jobs in the months ahead decreased from 16.9 percent to 15.7 percent, but those anticipating fewer jobs also decreased, from 18.0 percent to 13.2 percent. Regarding their short-term income prospects, the percentage of consumers expecting an improvement edged up from 21.4 percent to 21.8 percent, while the proportion expecting a decrease declined from 6.9 percent to 6.2 percent.

Source: November 2019 Consumer Confidence Survey^®
The Conference Board

The Conference Board publishes the Consumer Confidence Index^® at 10 a.m. ET on the last Tuesday of every month. Subscription information and the technical notes to this series are available on The Conference Board website: https://www.conference-board.org/data/consumerdata.cfm.

About The Conference Board
The Conference Board is the member-driven think tank that delivers trusted insights for what's ahead. Founded in 1916, we are a non-partisan, not-for-profit entity holding 501 (c) (3) tax-exempt status in the United States. www.conference-board.org.

About NIELSEN
Nielsen Holdings plc (NYSE: NLSN) 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. For more information, visit www.nielsen.com.

SOURCE The Conference Board