The Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index® Improves in May

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May 27, 2014, 10:00 ET

NEW YORK, May 27, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- The Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index^®, which had decreased in April, improved moderately in May. The Index now stands at 83.0 (1985=100), up from 81.7 in April. The Present Situation Index increased to 80.4 from 78.5, while the Expectations Index edged up to 84.8 from 83.9 in April.

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 May 14.

Says Lynn Franco, Director of Economic Indicators at The Conference Board: "Consumer confidence improved slightly in May, as consumers assessed current conditions, in particular the labor market, more favorably. Expectations regarding the short-term outlook for the economy, jobs, and personal finances were also more upbeat. In fact, the percentage of consumers expecting their incomes to grow over the next six months is the highest since December 2007 (20.2 percent). Thus, despite last month's decline, consumers' confidence appears to be growing."

Consumers' assessment of present-day conditions improved in May. Those stating business conditions are "good" decreased to 21.1 percent from 22.2 percent, while those stating business conditions are "bad" declined to 24.1 percent from 24.8 percent. Consumers' assessment of the labor market was more favorable. Those claiming jobs are "plentiful" rose to 14.1 percent from 13.0 percent, while those claiming jobs are "hard to get" decreased slightly to 32.3 percent from 32.8 percent.

Consumers' expectations increased slightly in May. The percentage of consumers expecting business conditions to improve over the next six months edged up to 17.5 percent from 17.2 percent, while those expecting business conditions to worsen decreased marginally to 10.2 percent from 10.5 percent.

Consumers were more positive about the outlook for the labor market. Those anticipating more jobs in the months ahead increased to 15.4 percent from 14.7 percent, while those anticipating fewer jobs edged up to 18.3 percent from 18.0 percent. The proportion of consumers expecting their incomes to grow increased to 18.3 percent from 16.8 percent, but those expecting a drop in their incomes also increased, to 14.5 percent from 12.9 percent.

Source:
May 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

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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.

SOURCE The Conference Board