NEW YORK—Consumer confidence has risen dramatically to 54.9 in May from a low of 25.2 in February, according to the non-profit Conference Board. The Board, which has tracked consumer confidence since 1916, said that the index was up noticeably from April’s 40.8, a possible indication that Americans think the worst of the recession has past.
May’s 54.9 is the highest the index has been since September, 2008, when it was at 61.4.
“Looking ahead,” said The Conference Board’s Lynn Franco, “consumers are considerably less pessimistic than they were earlier this year, and expectations are that business conditions, the labor market and incomes will improve in the coming months. While confidence is still weak by historical standards, as far as consumers are concerned, the worst is now behind us.”
The Conference Board’s Consumer Confidence Index uses a sample of 5,000 households to measure Americans’ perception of the economy on a monthly basis. Then research is done by the firm TNS.
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