The Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index Improves Slightly

The Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index, which had declined in September, increased slightly in October, but remains at historically low levels. The Index now stands at 50.2 (1985=100), up from 48.6 in September. The Present Situation Index increased to 23.9 from 23.3. The Expectations Index improved to 67.8 from 65.5.

Lynn Franco, Director of The Conference Board Consumer Research Center stated:

Consumers’ assessment of the current state of the economy is relatively unchanged, primarily because labor market conditions have yet to significantly improve. And, despite the uptick in Expectations, consumers continue to be quite concerned about the short-term outlook. Both present and future indicators point toward more of the same in the coming months.

Here's where the Index fails. It doesn't detect the QE2 that Bernanke is about to launch. That launch, though ultimately very inflationary, will boost the Index numbers.