The Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index® Improves Again

Third Straight Monthly Gain; Index at Highest Level since October 2007

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Jul 29, 2014, 10:00 ET

NEW YORK, July 29, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- The Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index^®, which had improved in June, increased in July. The Index now stands at 90.9 (1985=100), up from 86.4 in June. The Present Situation Index increased to 88.3 from 86.3, while the Expectations Index rose to 92.7 from 86.4 in June.

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.

Says Lynn Franco, Director of Economic Indicators at The Conference Board: "Consumer confidence increased for the third consecutive month and is now at its highest level since October 2007 (95.2). Strong job growth helped boost consumers' assessment of current conditions, while brighter short-term outlooks for the economy and jobs, and to a lesser extent personal income, drove the gain in expectations. Recent improvements in consumer confidence, in particular expectations, suggest the recent strengthening in growth is likely to continue into the second half of this year."

Consumers' assessment of current conditions improved in July. Those claiming business conditions are "good" edged down to 22.7 percent from 23.4 percent, while those stating business conditions are "bad" was virtually unchanged at 22.7 percent. Consumers' appraisal of the job market was more favorable. Those saying jobs are "plentiful" increased to 15.9 percent from 14.6 percent, while those claiming jobs are "hard to get" remained unchanged at 30.7 percent.

Consumers' expectations were more optimistic in July. The percentage of consumers expecting business conditions to improve over the next six months increased to 20.2 percent from 18.4 percent, while those expecting business conditions to worsen held steady at 11.5 percent. Consumers were more positive about the outlook for the labor market. Those anticipating more jobs in the months ahead increased to 19.1 percent from 16.3 percent, while those anticipating fewer jobs declined to 16.4 percent from 18.4 percent. Slightly more consumers expect their incomes to grow, 17.3 percent in July versus 16.7 percent in June, while those expecting a drop in their incomes declined to 11.0 percent from 11.4 percent.

Source:
July 2014 Consumer Confidence Survey^®
The Conference Board

About The Conference Board
The Conference Board is a global, independent business membership and research association working in the public interest. Our mission is unique: To provide the world's leading organizations with the practical knowledge they need to improve their performance and better serve society. The Conference Board is a non-advocacy, not-for-profit entity holding 501 (c) (3) tax-exempt status in the United States. www.conference-board.org

About Nielsen
Nielsen Holdings N.V. (NYSE: NLSN) is a global information and measurement company with leading market positions in marketing and consumer information, television and other media measurement, online intelligence, mobile measurement, trade shows and related properties. Nielsen has a presence in approximately 100 countries, with headquarters in New York, USA and Diemen, the Netherlands. For more information, visit www.nielsen.com.

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