U.S. Consumer Confidence Modestly Improves In July

(RTTNews) - Consumer confidence in the U.S. saw a modest improvement in the month of July, according to a report released by the Conference Board on Tuesday.

The Conference Board said its consumer confidence index rose to 97.2 in July after falling to a revised 95.2 in June.

Economists had expected the consumer confidence index to increase to 95.8 from the 93.0 originally reported for the previous month.

"Consumer confidence has stabilized since May, rebounding from April's plunge, but remains below last year's heady levels," said Stephanie Guichard, Senior Economist, Global Indicators at The Conference Board.

She added, "In July, pessimism about the future receded somewhat, leading to a slight improvement in overall confidence."

The report said the expectations index climbed by 4.5 points to 74.4 in July, while the present situation index fell by 1.5 points to 131.5.

"All three components of the Expectation Index improved, with consumers feeling less pessimistic about future business conditions and employment, and more optimistic about future income, said Guichard.

"Meanwhile, consumers' assessment of the present situation was little changed. They were a tad more positive about current business conditions in July than in June," she continued. However, their appraisal of current job availability weakened for the seventh consecutive month, reaching its lowest level since March 2021."