WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. consumer confidence inched up this month, showing signs of stabilizing, but remained near a six-year low in the face of the widespread business shutdowns that have sent the economy into recession.
The index, which reflects consumers’ assessments of present conditions and expectations about the future, had plummeted during the previous two months.
The present conditions index, based on how consumers feel about current business and labor market conditions, declined slightly from 73 to 71.1.
The proportion of consumers who described business conditions as “good” fell from 19.9% to 16.3%, while those who characterized business conditions as “bad” rose from 45.3% to 52.1%.
The proportion who expect business conditions to improve over the next six months rose from 39.8% to 43.3%.
