The Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index Increased in February

Index at Highest Level Since 2000

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Feb 27, 2018, 10:00 ET

NEW YORK, Feb. 27, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- The Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index^® increased in February, following a modest increase in January. The Index now stands at 130.8 (1985=100), up from 124.3 in January. The Present Situation Index increased from 154.7 to 162.4, while the Expectations Index improved from 104.0 last month to 109.7 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 February 15.

"Consumer confidence improved to its highest level since 2000 (Nov. 2000, 132.6) after a modest increase in January," said Lynn Franco, Director of Economic Indicators at The Conference Board. "Consumers' assessment of current conditions was more favorable this month, with the labor force the main driver. Despite the recent stock market volatility, consumers expressed greater optimism about short-term prospects for business and labor market conditions, as well as their financial prospects. Overall, consumers remain quite confident that the economy will continue expanding at a strong pace in the months ahead."

Consumers' appraisal of present-day conditions improved in February. Consumers' assessment of business conditions was moderately more positive than in January. The percentage saying business conditions are "good" increased slightly from 35.0 percent to 35.8 percent, while those saying business conditions are "bad" decreased from 13.0 percent to 10.8 percent. Consumers' assessment of the labor market was considerably more favorable. Those claiming jobs are "plentiful" increased from 37.2 percent to 39.4 percent, while those claiming jobs are "hard to get" decreased from 16.3 percent to 14.7 percent.

Consumers were also more optimistic about the short-term outlook in February. The percentage of consumers anticipating business conditions will improve over the next six months increased from 21.5 percent to 25.8 percent, while those expecting business conditions will worsen decreased from 9.8 percent to 9.4 percent.

Consumers' outlook for the job market was also more positive. The proportion expecting more jobs in the months ahead increased from 18.7 percent to 21.6 percent, while those anticipating fewer jobs declined from 12.5 percent to 11.9 percent. Regarding their short-term income prospects, the percentage of consumers expecting an improvement increased from 20.6 percent to 23.8 percent, however, the proportion expecting a decrease also rose, from 7.9 percent to 8.6 percent.

Source: February 2018 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 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. Winner of the Consensus Economics 2016 Forecast Accuracy Award (U.S.), 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 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