Consumer Confidence Hits 6-Month High

“Consumers’ assessments of the current labor situation, while still positive, continued to weaken, and assessments of the labor market going forward were more pessimistic,” Dana Peterson, chief economist at the Conference Board, said in a statement. “This likely reflects the recent increase in unemployment. Consumers were also a bit less positive about future income.”

Some 32.8% of consumers said jobs were plentiful, the smallest share since March 2021 and the sixth straight decline. The share saying jobs were hard to get edged higher.

The difference between these two — a metric closely followed by economists to gauge the job market — also fell to a more than three-year low.

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