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U.S.:Consumer Confidence moves up slightly in May
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onsumer Confidence moves up slightly in May

NEW YORK, -- The Consumer Confidence Index improved in May to 109.8 (1985=100), up from 108.5 in April, while the Present Situation Index climbed to 110.3 from 106.8 and the Expectations Index fell slightly to 109.4 from 109.6, according to The Conference Board.

The Consumer Confidence Survey is based on a representative sample of 5,000 U.S. households. The monthly survey is conducted for The Conference Board by NFO WorldGroup, a member of The Interpublic Group of Companies.

"Consumers' upbeat mood about current business and labor conditions underscores the economy's continuing recovery, but the latest retreat in expectations suggest that the pace of economic growth will not accelerate in the months ahead," says Lynn Franco, Director of The Conference Board's Consumer Research Center.

More than 21% of consumers rate current business conditions as "good," up from 19.7% in April, and 18.8% label current conditions as "bad," down from 19.4% in April. Some 20.9% say jobs are plentiful, the same figure recorded last month. Consumers claiming jobs are "hard to get" fell to 21.9% in May, down from 22.7% in April.

The outlook for the next six months remains cautiously optimistic. Some 24.9% look for business conditions to improve, compared with 26% in April. Those expecting business conditions to deteriorate rose from 6.4% to 6.7% in May. A smaller%age of consumers expect fewer jobs to become available -- 13.7% versus 14.8% in April. Fewer consumers -- 20.6% today versus 21.1% in April -- expect their incomes to increase during the next six months.