The Conference Board’s measure of U.S. consumer confidence jumped 7.2 points to 76.2 in May (well above expectations for a 69.5 reading) to build on the previous month’s 7.1-point gain to an upwardly revised 69.0 level in April (initially reported as 68.1) and reach its highest level since February 2008.
The improvement in sentiment in May reflected more optimistic appraisals of both present conditions and the short-term outlook. The "expectations for six months hence" component surged 8.1 points to 82.4, its best reading since October, while the "present situation" component jumped 5.7 points to 66.7, its highest level since May 2008.
With respect to labour market conditions, those saying jobs were "plentiful" rose to a five-month high of 10.8% from 9.7% in April while those saying jobs were "hard to get" fell to 36.1% from 36.9% in the previous month. The net result was that the labour market differential (the difference between these two components) improved to a five-month high of -25.3 in May from -27.2 in the previous month.
