Key Takeaways
- Consumer confidence, as measured by the Conference Board, rose in July.
- The reading comes after the index declined in June as worries over the labor market persisted.
- Consumer surveys have improved recently after falling in the wake of President Donald Trump’s tariffs announcement in April.
Consumer confidence improved more than expected in July as inflation worries receded slightly.
The Conference Board’s Consumer Confidence Index came in at 97.2, an improvement of two points over June’s revised reading.
The report showed that consumers’ short-term outlook for income, business and market conditions rose by 4.5 points, while their outlook for current business conditions declined slightly. Consumers’ expectations for inflation over the year ahead dipped slightly to 5.8%, down from the peak of 7% in April.
Economists surveyed by Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal projected that the index would rise to 95.4.
“Consumer confidence has stabilized since May, rebounding from April’s plunge, but remains below last year’s heady levels,” said Stephanie Guichard, senior economist for global indicators at The Conference Board. “They were a tad more positive about current business conditions in July than in June. However, their appraisal of current job availability weakened for the seventh consecutive month, reaching its lowest level since March 2021.”
Consumer surveys declined in the months following Trump’s early tariff announcements, but those worries have subsided as the president has announced a string of deals with trading partners.
Consumers Have Increasing Worries Over Labor Market, Higher Interest Rates
While consumers have brightened their outlook on the economy, their confidence is still below the levels seen in 2024, as the expectation index remained below the recessionary threshold, the widely followed survey showed.
Of particular concern were jobs, with almost one in five consumers saying jobs were hard to get in July, up from 14.5% in January. The sentiment comes as employers reported fewer job openings in June.
“The big story remains the frozen labor market. Americans do not think it is easy to get a job right now,” said Heather Long, chief economist at Navy Federal Credit Union. “Americans are correct that it’s tough to get a job outside of health care and education.”
Consumers also said they believed mortgage, auto loan and credit card rates were more likely to rise than other types of interest rates, with credit card rates anticipated to rise the most.
Update, July 29, 2025: This article was updated with additional commentary from economists.
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