Consumer confidence rebounds, internals though still mixed/Home prices continue higher

In contrast to the drop seen in the UoM consumer confidence index for May, the Conference Board had a different result as its index rose to 102 from 97.5 but it was 103.1 in March, 104.8 in February and 110.9 in January. It was 132.6 in February 2020. The Present Situation and Expectation components both rebounded from the April drop with the latter doing a bit better than the former.

The one year inflation expectations component rose to 5.4% from 5.3% and that is a 5 month high.

The answers to the job questions were mixed. Those that said jobs were Plentiful fell again to 37.5, the lowest since April 2021 and not including Covid, go back to January 2018. On the other hand, those that said they were Hard to Get fell 2 pts but after jumping by 3.3 pts last month to just off the highest since March 2021. Also, off the lowest level since February 2016, those expecting ‘more jobs’ rose a touch, by .3 pts to 12.6. Those expecting an ‘increase’ in income was little changed, up .1 pt.

Spending intentions were mixed too. There was no change in plans to buy a vehicle while they fell slightly for a home but rose for a major appliance.