Consumers were considerably more positive about current-day conditions in July than they were in June. Those claiming conditions are "good" increased to 28.1 percent from 27.3 percent. Those saying conditions are "bad" decreased to 14.4 percent from 16.1 percent. Consumers were also more upbeat about the job market. Those saying jobs are "hard to get" declined to 18.4 percent from 20.5 percent. Those claiming jobs are "plentiful" improved to 30.5 percent from 27.6 percent in June.
Consumers were also less pessimistic about the short-term outlook. Those expecting business conditions to worsen in the next six months declined to 8.0 percent from 10.8 percent. However, those anticipating business conditions to improve dipped to 15.4 percent from 16.2 percent. The outlook for the labor market continued to be mixed. The percent of consumers expecting more jobs in the months ahead was virtually unchanged at 14.1 percent, while those anticipating fewer jobs decreased to 15.1 percent from 17.0 percent. The proportion of consumers expecting their incomes to increase in the months ahead declined to 18.8 percent from 19.4 percent in June.