Consumer Confidence Drops in May

-- Foodservice Equipment & Supplies, 7/9/2008 11:39:00 AM

The Conference Board’s Consumer Confidence Index fell by 7.7 points in May to 50.4. The measure’s two component indices, the Present Situation Index and the Expectations Index, both fell during the month.

The Present Situation Index posted the steeper decline falling almost 10 full points to 64.5. The percentage of survey respondents who described business conditions as “bad” increased to 32.5 percent from May’s level of 29.7 percent. Similarly, only 11.5 percent of those surveyed said business conditions are “good,” down from 13 percent in the previous month.

The Expectations Index, meanwhile, fell to 41.0 from May’s level of 47.3. Those expecting business conditions to worsen over the next six months rose to 33.9 percent from 32.9 percent, while those anticipating an improvement in business conditions fell to 8.8 percent from 10.6 percent.

Access the release on the June Consumer Confidence Index by clicking here. The July release will be available on July 29.