Reflecting a notable improvement in consumers' assessment of current business conditions, the Conference Board released a report on Tuesday showing that its reading on U.S. consumer confidence rose by much more than expected in the month of June.
The Conference Board said its consumer confidence index jumped to 85.2 in June from a revised 82.2 in May, reaching its highest level since January of 2008.
Economists had expected the consumer confidence index to edge up to 83.5 from the 83.0 originally reported for the previous month.
Amna Asaf, an economist at Capital Economics, said the jump by the index "suggests that the positive effects from an improving labor market and record high equity prices trumped the negative effect from rising gasoline prices."
"Overall, a welcome improvement in sentiment," Asaf said. "Admittedly, the level of confidence is still below the historical average of 92.6, but we think that level is not far from achieving given that the labor market is on the mend and income prospects are bright."
The report said the present situation index climbed to 85.1 in June from 80.3 in May, reflecting the improvement in consumers' appraisal of current conditions
Consumers saying business conditions are "good" increased to 23.0 percent from 21.1 percent, while those saying business conditions are "bad" fell to 22.8 percent from 24.6 percent.
The Conference Board said the assessment of the job market was also more favorable, as consumers claiming jobs are "plentiful" edged up to 14.7 percent from 14.2 percent, while those claiming jobs are "hard to get" dipped to 31.8 percent from 32.2 percent.
Additionally, the expectations index ticked up to 85.2 in June from 83.5 in May, as consumers' expectations were generally more positive.
The percentage of consumers expecting business conditions to improve over the next six months rose to 18.8 percent from 17.7 percent.
At the same time, the report said the percentage of consumers expecting business conditions to worsen also edged up to 11.4 percent from 10.7 percent.
The Conference Board said consumers were more positive about the outlook for the labor market. Consumers expecting more jobs in the months ahead climbed to 16.3 percent from 15.2 percent, while those anticipating fewer jobs slipped to 18.7 percent from 18.9 percent.
Meanwhile, the report also showed that the percentage of consumers expecting their incomes to grow fell to 15.9 percent from 18.0 percent, but those expecting a drop in their incomes also fell to 12.1 percent from 14.5 percent.
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