IMGCAP(1)]
The Consumer Confidence Index rose slightly in November after declining to an all-time low the previous month, The Conference Board, a research organization, announced today. The November index stands at 44.9, up from 38.8 in October. The baseline for the index is 100. The percentage of consumers who said business conditions are "bad" increased to 40.3% in November from 37.1% who said so during the previous month. Nearly one in 10 consumers, 9.9%, said business conditions are "good," up slightly from 9.4% said so last month. Consumers anticipating business conditions to worsen during the next six months declined to 28.1% in November from 36.5% in October, while those expecting conditions to improve rose to 11.4% from 9.6%. The percentage of consumers who said jobs are "hard to get" rose to 37.2% in November from 36.6% in October, while those who said jobs are "plentiful" decreased to 8.8% from 9%, according to the survey. Research company TNS conducts the monthly Consumer Confidence survey of 5,000 randomly selected U.S. households. The cutoff date for November's results was Nov. 18.
