Overview
- The Conference Board's headline Consumer Confidence Index fell to 93.1 from a revised 93.8, marking a modest decline driven by weaker views of today's economy.
- The Present Situation Index dropped to 121.2 as households reported softer assessments of current business conditions and the labor market.
- The Expectations Index improved to 74.4, but it remains below 80, a level commonly linked with higher recession worries.
- Conference Board staff said the May survey captured the inflationary effects of the Middle East war and rising global prices, and respondents showed weaker income expectations with more people expecting lower income ahead.
- A slip in confidence and weaker income expectations could reduce consumer spending, which accounts for most U.S. GDP, and may factor into growth forecasts and monetary policy decisions.