Consumer confidence takes big June jump
By Furniture Today Staff -- Furniture Today, July 19, 2004
New York — Consumer confidence soared in June to levels not seen since June 2002, although plans to buy homes fell.
The Conference Board's Consumer Confidence Index now stands at 101.9, up 8.8 points from May's 93.1. The Present Situation Index increased from 90.5 in May to 104.8, and the Expectations Index rose to 100 from 94.8.
Six-month buying plans for big-ticket items such as homes and automobiles took a hit. In June, 3.6% of those surveyed planned to buy a home in six months, compared with 4.1% in May. In May, 6.4% of survey participants planned to buy a car in the next six months, slightly above June's rate of 6.3%.
Lynn Franco, director of The Conference Board's Consumer Research Center, said, "Looking forward, consumers expect the economy to continue to grow at a healthy clip and to continue to generate additional jobs. And, with prices at the pump beginning to ease, the short-term outlook remains favorable."
Comparing June with May, eight of the nine U.S. regions reported gains in consumer confidence. The largest gain, 24.5 points, was in the East South Central region. The lone holdout region was the East North Central region, where June results equaled May's.
The Consumer Confidence Survey is based on a representative sample of 5,000 U.S. households. The cutoff date for June's preliminary results was June 22.
