Consumer confidence keeps climbing in April

APRIL 26, 2006 - New York -- Continuing its March growth, April's Consumer Confidence Index rose to 109.6, the highest level since May 2002.According to a Tuesday release from the Conference Board, which measures the Consumer Confidence Index, the Present Situation Index increased from 136.2 from 133.3 in April, while the Expectations Index rose from 91.9 to 90.3.

The percentage of respondents claiming conditions are "good" increased to 29.7 percent from 27.9 percent. However, the percentage of respondents claiming conditions are "bad" also rose, from 14.7 percent in March to 15.1 percent in April."Improving present-day conditions continue to boost consumers' spirits," Lynn Franco, director of the Conference Board Consumer Research Center, said in the statement. "Recent improvements in the labor market have been a major driver behind the rise in confidence in early 2006. Looking ahead, consumers are not as pessimistic as they were last month. However, expectations for the economy and labor market have been trending downward since peaking in 2003."

Consumer perceptions of the labor market improved for the month. The percentage of people saying jobs are "plentiful" increased to 29.1 percent from 28.3 percent in March, while those claiming jobs are "hard to get" dropped from 19.6 percent to 20.4 percent in April.The consumer confidence survey is based on a representative sample of 5,000 households conducted for the Conference Board by research firm TNS.