Consumer Confidence Ticks Up as Short-Term Outlook Improves

""The Conference Board"":http://www.conference-board.org/ released on Tuesday its Consumer Confidence Index for August, showing a slight upward tick following July's decline.

[IMAGE]

According to the latest update, the index now stands at 81.5, up half a point from July. Lynn Franco, director of economist indicators for the Conference Board, said the increase was ""a result of improving short-term expectations.""

""Consumers were moderately more upbeat about business, job and earning prospects. In fact, income expectations, which had declined sharply earlier this year with the payroll tax hike, have rebounded to their highest level in two and a half years,"" Franco said. ""Consumers' assessment of current business and labor market conditions, on the other hand, was somewhat less favorable than last month.""

The Present Situation Index dropped from 73.6 to 70.7 in August, reflecting pessimistic attitudes toward business conditions at the moment. Those stating business conditions are ""good"" decreased to 18.4 percent from 20.8 percent, while those stating conditions are ""bad"" was essentially flat at 24.8 percent.

Thoughts about labor were similarly mixed. Those claiming jobs are ""plentiful"" decreased to 11.4 percent from 12.3 percent, while those saying jobs are ""hard to get"" declined to 33.0 percent from 35.2 percent.

Despite lower sentiment regarding the current economic climate, expectations for the future were improved, with the Expectations Index increasing to 88.7 from 86.0. The number of respondents expecting business conditions to improve over the next six months edged up slightly to 20.1 percent from 19.9 percent, while the number of those expecting conditions to worsen declined to 11.1 percent from 11.3 percent.

Meanwhile, the outlook for labor was upbeat compared to July. The share of those anticipating more jobs in the months to come increased to 17.6 percent from 16.7 percent, while those anticipating fewer jobs declined to 17.3 percent from 17.7 percent. On the matter of personal finances, the number of consumers expecting their incomes to increase in the near future improved to 17.4 percent (from 15.7 percent), while those expecting a decrease fell to 13.5 percent (from 13.7 percent).