The Consumer Confidence Index declined a tad in June (117.3) but improved this July (to 121.1). Lynn Franco, director at The Conference Board stated, “(national) Consumers’ assessment of current conditions remained at a 16-year high and their expectations for the short-term outlook improved after cooling last month.” Those saying business conditions are “good” increased from 30.6 percent to 33.3 percent, while those saying conditions are “bad” was virtually unchanged at 13.5 percent. Consumers appraisal of the labor market was also more favorable. Those stating “jobs are plentiful” rose from 32.0 percent to 34.1 percent, while those claiming jobs are “hard to get” decreased slightly from 18.4 to 18.0 percent. The percentage of consumers expecting business conditions to improve over the next 6 months increased from 20.1 percent to 22.9 percent, while those expecting conditions to worsen declined from, 10.0 percent 8.2. Consumers’ outlook for the future of the labor market also improved. The proportion expecting more jobs in the months ahead was unchanged at 19.2 percent, but those anticipating fewer jobs decreased from 14.6 to 13.3 percent. However, participants were not as upbeat about their future income prospects as they were back in June. The percentage expecting an improvement in their income dropped moderately from 20.9 percent to 20, while the proportion expecting a decline increased from 9.3 to 10.0 percent. The monthly Consumer Confidence Surbey, based on a probability-design random sample, is conducted for the (national) Confidence Board by Neilsen.