U.S. consumer confidence surges 5 points in Oct.

NEW YORK – Oct. 28, 2014 – The Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index rebounded in October after a slight decrease last month. The Index now stands at 94.5, up from 89.0 in September.

The Present Situation Index that gauges consumers' attitudes about current conditions edged up slightly from 93.0 to 93.7, while the Expectations Index, which gauges attitudes about the economy six months from now, surged to 95.0 from 86.4 in September.

"A more favorable assessment of the current job market and business conditions contributed to the improvement in consumers' view of the present situation," says Lynn Franco, director of economic indicators at The Conference Board.

"Looking ahead, consumers have regained confidence in the short-term outlook for the economy and labor market, and are more optimistic about their future earnings potential," Franco adds.

Consumers' appraisal of current conditions

The view of current business conditions was mixed; while the proportion saying conditions are "good" inched up from 24.2 percent to 24.5 percent, those claiming business conditions are "bad" also increased slightly from 21.2 percent to 21.7 percent.

Consumers' assessment of the job market improved moderately, with the proportion stating jobs are "plentiful" rising marginally from 16.3 percent to 16.5 percent, as those claiming jobs are "hard to get" declined slightly from 29.4 percent to 29.1 percent.

Consumers' appraisal of future conditions

The percentage of consumers who expect business conditions to improve over the next six months increased from 19.0 percent to 19.6 percent, while those expecting business conditions to worsen fell from 11.4 percent to 9.3 percent.

Consumers' outlook for the labor market improved markedly. Those anticipating more jobs in the months ahead increased to 16.8 percent from 16.0 percent, while those anticipating fewer jobs fell from 16.9 percent to 13.9 percent.

The proportion of consumers expecting growth in their incomes rose from 16.9 percent in September to 17.7 percent in October, while the proportion expecting a drop in income fell from 13.4 percent to 11.6 percent.

Nielsen conducts the monthly Consumer Confidence Survey for The Conference Board. The cutoff date for the preliminary results was October 16.