Consumer confidence ticks down in May, but remains strong

Consumer confidence ticked down slightly in May but remains nearly as high as its been since the pandemic began

SILVER SPRING, Md. -- Consumer confidence ticked down slightly in May but remains nearly as high as its been since the pandemic began. The Conference Board reported Tuesday that its consumer confidence index fell to 117.2 from April's 117.5 reading, the highest level since February of 2020, just before the pandemic began. The present situation index, based on consumers assessment of current business and labor market conditions, rose to 144.3 from 131.9. Although the percentage of consumers surveyed claiming that business conditions are “good” fell slightly from 19.4% to 18.7%, those claiming conditions are “bad” declined more, from 24.5% in April to 21.8% in May. Consumers’ assessment of the labor market also improved as the percentage of consumers saying jobs are “plentiful” climbed from 36.3% to 46.8%. Those saying that jobs are hard to get fell to 12.2% from 14.7%. Unemployment claims have fallen to pandemic lows each week for the past the month.