U.S. consumer confidence in April was down slightly from the previous month as buyers "remain cautiously optimistic" about economic conditions, according to the latest Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index released April 4.
The April Consumer Confidence Index was 69.2, down from 69.5 in March.
"As was the case last month, the slight dip was prompted by a moderation in consumers' short-term outlook, while their assessment of current conditions continued to improve," said Lynn Franco, director of The Conference Board Consumer Research Center. "Overall, consumers are more upbeat about the state of the economy, but they remain cautiously optimistic."
Consumer confidence also dropped for the job market. Survey respondents expecting more jobs in the next few months decreased to 16.9% from 17.4%, according to the monthly Consumer Confidence Survey conducted by Nielsen for the Conference Board.
But consumers don't see more job losses in the future, with 18% expecting fewer jobs compared with 18.5% in March.
Consumers expecting business conditions to improve over the next six months decreased to 18.8% from 19.3%. At the same time, buyers expecting business conditions will worsen increased to 14.2% from 13.7%.
Consumers' assessment of current business conditions improved in April, with 15.3% characterizing the situation as "good" compared with 14.3% making the same statement in March.
