Media reports are filled with negative feelings from consumers about the economy despite recent good news.
But the griping over consistently-high grocery and gas prices doesn’t appear to be dimming consumer confidence.
The Conference Board, a business research group, said Tuesday that its consumer confidence index rose to 100.3 in July from a downwardly revised 97.8 in June, the Associated Press reported.
The index measures both Americans’ assessment of current economic conditions and their outlook for the next six months.
The measure of Americans’ short-term expectations for income, business and the job market rose in July to 78.2 from 72.8 in June, the AP reported.
Consumers’ view of current conditions dipped in July to 133.6, from 135.3 in June.
Those high food and grocery prices are still driving consumers’ opinions of the nation’s economy. Despite the fact inflation has come down considerably since the Federal Reserve started boosting interest rates in March 2022, price increases remain well above pre-pandemic levels.
“Even though consumers remain relatively positive about the labor market, they still appear to be concerned about elevated prices and interest rates, and uncertainty about the future; things that may not improve until next year,” Dana Peterson, The Conference Board’s chief economist, told the AP.
Consumer spending accounts for nearly 70% of U.S. economic activity and is closely watched by economists for signs how the American consumer is feeling.
While the U.S. economy and labor market remain broadly healthy, some weakness has surfaced, spurred by higher interest rates.
Also Tuesday, the government reported that postings for U.S. job openings fell slightly in June. There were 8.18 million job vacancies in June, still a strong number, but down from 8.23 million in May.
The nation’s economy accelerated in the second quarter at a strong 2.8% annual pace, but that comes after growth of just 1.4% in the January-March quarter.
