Brighter Outlook Props Up Consumer Confidence in April

Consumer confidence rose in April as Americans showed much greater optimism for the short-term future.

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The ""Conference Board"":http://www.conference-board.org/ Consumer Confidence Index, which took a hit in March as the first effects of the sequester were felt, increased from 61.9 to 68.1 in April, the firm reported.

""Consumer Confidence improved in April, as consumers' expectations about the short-term economic outlook and their income prospects improved,"" said Lynn Franco, director of economic indicators at the Conference Board. ""However, consumers' confidence has been challenged several times over the past few months by such events as the fiscal cliff, the payroll tax hike and the sequester.

""Thus, while expectations appear to have bounced back, it is too soon to tell if confidence is actually on the mend,"" Franco concluded.

Consumers were considerably more upbeat about the near future than they were in March. The Conference Board's Expectations Index improved to 73.3 in April, a jump from 63.7 the prior month. The percentage of consumers expecting business conditions to improve over the next six months increased to 16.9 percent from 15.0 percent previously, while those expecting conditions to worsen fell to 15.1 percent from 17.7 percent.

The outlook for the labor market was also positive. The number of those expecting more jobs in the months ahead improved to 14.2 percent from 13.0 percent, while the number expecting fewer jobs decreased to 22.4 percent from 26.0 percent. Meanwhile, the proportion of consumers expecting their incomes to increase rose from 14.6 percent to 16.8 percent.

While more consumers expressed confidence in their assessment of current conditions, monthly gains were only moderate. According to the Conference Board, the Present Situation Index rose to 60.4 from 59.2, with more respondents describing business conditions as ""good"" (17.2 percent compared to 16.4 percent in March) and jobs as ""plentiful"" (9.8 percent from 9.5 percent).