The Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index Decreased in July

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Jul 28, 2020, 10:00 ET

NEW YORK, July 28, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index^® decreased in July, after increasing in June. The Index now stands at 92.6 (1985=100), down from 98.3 in June. The Present Situation Index – based on consumers' assessment of current business and labor market conditions – improved from 86.7 to 94.2. However, the Expectations Index – based on consumers' short-term outlook for income, business, and labor market conditions – decreased from 106.1 in June to 91.5 this month.

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 July 17.

"Consumer Confidence declined in July following a large gain in June," said Lynn Franco, Senior Director of Economic Indicators at The Conference Board. "The Present Situation Index improved, but the Expectations Index retreated. Large declines were experienced in Michigan, Florida, Texas and California, no doubt a result of the resurgence of COVID-19. Looking ahead, consumers have grown less optimistic about the short-term outlook for the economy and labor market and remain subdued about their financial prospects. Such uncertainty about the short-term future does not bode well for the recovery, nor for consumer spending."

Consumers' assessment of present-day conditions improved in July. The percentage of consumers claiming business conditions are "good" was relatively unchanged at 17.3 percent, while those claiming business conditions are "bad" decreased from 42.5 percent to 39.1 percent. Consumers' appraisal of the job market was more favorable. The percentage of consumers saying jobs are "plentiful" increased from 20.5 percent to 21.3 percent, while those claiming jobs are "hard to get" decreased from 23.3 percent to 20.0 percent.

Consumers, however, were less optimistic about the short-term outlook. The percentage of consumers expecting business conditions will improve over the next six months declined from 42.4 percent to 31.6 percent, while those expecting business conditions will worsen increased from 15.2 percent to 19.3 percent. Consumers' outlook for the labor market was also less favorable. The proportion expecting more jobs in the months ahead declined from 38.4 percent to 30.6 percent, while those anticipating fewer jobs in the months ahead increased from 14.4 percent to 20.3 percent. Regarding their short-term income prospects, the percentage of consumers expecting an increase was relatively unchanged at 15.1 percent, while the proportion expecting a decrease rose from 14.1 percent to 15.0 percent.

Source: July 2020 Consumer Confidence Survey^®
The Conference Board / Release #7006

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