Report: Consumers More Confident in April
April 28, 2009 by Allison Boyer
Filed under Business
According to the Conference Board’s Consumer Confidence Index, American consumer confidence jumped in April from 26.9% to39.2%. Short-term outlook significantly improved, as far fewer people anticipate business orsening over the next six months. The percentage of people expecting the economy to improve is still low at 15.6%, but that number too is up from 9.6% in March.
Image: sxc.hu
People also had a more optimistic view of employment, according to the report. The percentage of people expecting the job outlook to improve saw a boost from just 7.3% to 13.9%, and fewer peopl expect to see the job market to get even worse than it is right now.
The Conference Board, based in New York, polls 5,000 people every month for their consumer confidence study. Overall confidence saw the biggest jump since almost a year ago.
The boost in consumer confidence bodes well for retailers, who hope that the worst is over for 2009. As shoppers begin to think that the future looks brighter, they will likely spend more money, which is an important step to the economy recovering.
