NEWYORK, May 25 (UPI) -- The U.S. Conference Board said Tuesday consumer confidence in May was virtually unchanged in May.
The Board said its index measuring consumer confidence improved slightly to 93.2 from 93.0 in April.
Most economists on Wall Street were expecting consumer confidence to improve to 94.0.
The Board reported its Present Situation Index slipped to 90.3 from 90.4 while its Expectations Index edged up to 95.2 from 94.8.
Lynn Franco, director of The Conference Board's Consumer Research Center, said, "The recent upturn in the present situation index is being spurred by strong employment gains in March and April. This has made consumers more positive about short-term prospects in the months ahead."
She added, "The pickup in the job market is offsetting the impact of rising gas prices and escalating tensions overseas."
The Board reported consumers saying business conditions have improved rose to 22.3 percent from 21.7 percent, while consumers claiming conditions have worsened remained unchanged at 21.7 percent.
Consumers claiming jobs are hard to get rose to 30.6 percent from 28.0 percent, while those saying jobs are plentiful increased to 16.6 percent from 15.6 percent.
