U.S. consumers were a little more optimistic about the economy in September, according to a report released Tuesday.
The Conference Board's Consumer Confidence Index inched up to 103 in September, beating estimates. Economists polled by Reuters expected a reading of 96.1. August's reading was 101.3.
Consumers who said business conditions are "good" increased 23.7% to 28%, while those claiming business conditions are "bad" declined modestly from 17.8% to 16.7%.
Consumer optimism about the short-term outlook was mostly flat in September. The percentage of consumers expecting business conditions to improve over the next six months increased from 16.6% to 17.9%, but those expecting business conditions to worsen also increased, from 9.1% to 10.3%.
