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RAPAPORT... U.S. consumer confidence rose 13 percent year on year to 90.9 points (1985=100) in July, according to the Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index®. The Index was also up from 86.4 points in June. Compared with one year ago, the Present Situation Index increased to 88.3 from 73.6 and the Expectations Index rose to 92.7 from 84.7. Lynn Franco, the director of economic indicators at the Conference Board, said that the index stands at its highest level since October 2007. "Strong job growth helped boost consumers’ assessment of current conditions, while brighter short-term outlooks for the economy and jobs, and to a lesser extent personal income, drove the gain in expectations," Franco said.
Those claiming that business conditions were “good” in July rose to 22.7 percent from 20.9 percent one year ago, while those stating that business conditions were “bad” was 22.7 percent compared with 24.5 percent in July 2013. Consumers who believed that the jobs were “plentiful” increased to 15.9 percent from 12.2 percent, while those who claimed that jobs were “hard to get” fell to 30.7 percent from 35.5 percent one year ago.
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