The Conference Board’s Consumer Confidence Index increased to 91.2 in June from a downwardly revised 90.6 in May, though the figure fell significantly short of the 94.4 consensus estimate. The modest headline improvement was driven by the Expectations Index, which rose 3.0 points to 74.4 as falling oil prices provided relief from inflation concerns.
However, the Present Situation Index dropped to 116.4 from 119.4, reflecting a cooling labor market. The percentage of consumers stating jobs are "hard to get" rose to 22.5%, the highest level since early 2021. U.S. markets showed a muted immediate reaction to the miss, with equity futures remaining largely unchanged as investors balanced the improved inflation outlook against signs of economic softening ahead of the quarterly close.