The Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index® Increases Moderately

The Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index increased from December. It rose from 53.6 to 55.9 in January. "Consumers' assessment of present-day conditions was, on the whole, more positive than last month." 9% of people interviewed thought that business conditions were good, up from 7.5%. Consumers viewed the labor market as overall better this month with 4.3% stating that jobs were plentiful, up from 3.1%. "The percentage of consumers expecting an improvement in business conditions over the next six months decreased to 20.9 percent from 21.2 percent, while those anticipating conditions will worsen increased to 12.7 percent from 11.8 percent." People expecting fewer jobs decreased to 18.9 percent from 20.6 percent. While those expecting more jobs to become available in the months ahead declined to 15.5 percent from 16.4 percent. The proportion of consumers anticipating a decrease in their incomes declined to 16.2 percent from 18.4 percent.