Consumer Confidence Edges Up For 2nd Consecutive Month!!

More Good News!!

Though consumers remain cautious about the months ahead, consumer confidence improved for the second straight month in July, according to a recent report from The Conference Board.

Following last month's modest improvement, the Consumer Confidence Index increased to 106.5 (1985=100) in July, up from 105.4 in June. The Present Situation and Expectations indices also edged up, rising to 133 and 88.8, respectively.

Though consumers' assessment of current conditions remains positive, fewer people anticipate improvements in the labor market and overall business conditions in the next six months, according to the report.

In July, the proportion of consumers expecting more jobs to become available in the coming months declined to 14.4 percent, and the percentage of consumers anticipating their incomes to increase remained nearly unchanged from June, standing at 17.7 percent.

**Taken from the California Association of Realtors Bulletin, dated July 26, 2006.