Consumer confidence in the U.S. improved in line with economist estimates in the month of May, the Conference Board revealed in a report on Tuesday.
The Conference Board said its consumer confidence index climbed to 83.0 in May from a downwardly revised 81.7 in April.
Economists had been expecting the index to edge up to 83.0 from the 82.3 originally reported for the previous month.
Lynn Franco, Director of Economic Indicators at the Conference Board, said, "Consumer confidence improved slightly in May, as consumers assessed current conditions, in particular the labor market, more favorably."
"Expectations regarding the short-term outlook for the economy, jobs, and personal finances were also more upbeat," she added.
The report showed that the present situation index increased to 80.4 in May from 78.5 in April, reflecting the improvement in consumers' assessment of present-day conditions.
While consumers saying current business conditions are "good" fell to 21.1 percent from 22.2 percent, those saying conditions are "bad" also dropped to 24.1 percent from 24.8 percent.
The assessment of the labor market was more favorable, as consumers saying jobs are "plentiful" rose to 14.1 percent from 13.0 percent and those claiming jobs are "hard to get" dipped to 32.3 percent from 32.8 percent.
Additionally, the Conference Board said the expectations index edged up to 84.8 in May from 83.9 in the previous month.
The percentage of consumers expecting business conditions to improve over the next six months inched up to 17.5 percent from 17.2 percent, and those expecting business conditions to worsen dipped to 10.2 percent from 10.5 percent.
Consumers anticipating more jobs in the months ahead rose to 15.4 percent from 14.7 percent, while those anticipating fewer jobs edged up to 18.3 percent from 18.0 percent.
The Conference Board also said consumers expecting their incomes to grow climbed to 18.3 percent from 16.8 percent, but those expecting a drop in income also increased to 14.5 percent from 12.9 percent.
Friday morning, Thomson Reuters and the University of Michigan are scheduled to release their revised report on consumer sentiment in May.
Economists expect the consumer sentiment index to be upwardly revised to 82.5 from the preliminary reading of 81.8. The index came in at 84.1 in April.
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