Consumer confidence rises again

The Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index, which had improved in May, increased again in June. 

The Index now stands at 81.4, up from 74.3 in May, according to a report released Tuesday morning.

A year ago, the index was at 62.7.

“Consumer confidence increased for the third consecutive month and is now at its highest level since January 2008,” said Lynn Franco, director of economic indicators at The Conference Board. “Consumers are considerably more positive about current business and labor market conditions than they were at the beginning of the year. Expectations have also improved considerably over the past several months, suggesting that the pace of growth is unlikely to slow in the short term, and may even moderately pick up.”

The Present Situation Index increased to 69.2 from 64.8. The Expectations Index improved to 89.5 from 80.6 last month.

The monthly Consumer Confidence Survey, based on a probability-design random sample, is conducted for The Conference Board by Nielsen, a provider of information and analytics around what consumers buy and watch.