US consumer confidence beats forecasts, but labour market outlook worsens

Consumer confidence in the US rose more than expected this month, but still remained within a narrow range that has prevailed over the past two years.

According to a closely watched survey from The Conference Board on Tuesday, the Consumer Confidence Index rose to 103.3 from an upwardly revised 101.9 in July. This was ahead of the 100.7 consensus forecast.

While there was an improvement in views about present and future business conditions, consumers showed more concerns about the labour market.

"Consumers’ assessments of the current labour situation, while still positive, continued to weaken, and assessments of the labor market going forward were more pessimistic," said Dana Peterson, chief economist at The Conference Board. "This likely reflects the recent increase in unemployment. Consumers were also a bit less positive about future income."

The Present Situation Index increased to 134.4 from 133.1 in July, while the Expectations Index also improved to 82.5 from 81.1.

Some 18.4% of consumers said they expected business conditions to improve in six months' time, up from 15.2% last month, but those anticipating fewer jobs to be available increased to 17.5% from 16.4% while those predicting an increase in their incomes fell to 16.9% from 17.2%.