WASHINGTON, Aug. 26 (UPI) -- The Conference Board's consumer confidence index bounced back in August, reaching 81.3 from July's revised 77.
The director of the Conference Board's consumer research center, Lynn Franco, said, "The welcome bounce back in confidence ... was entirely due to consumers' increasing optimism about the future."
Franco said the expectations index jumped to 94.4 from 86.3, while the index measuring attitudes on present conditions slipped from 63 to 61.6.
The Wall Street Journal said separate Monday reports showed July durable-goods orders rose for a second consecutive month, while new-home sales dropped.
Concerning the labor market, the number of consumers who found jobs "plentiful" during July rose from 10.7 percent to 11.1 percent. But the number of people who said jobs were "hard to get" increased from 32.7 percent to 34.1 percent during July.
The government said July durable goods orders were up 1 percent to $173.98 billion, following a 2.6 percent June increase. Analysts told the Journal that marked the first back-to-back increase in new orders in more than two years.
New automobile and automotive parts orders rose 5.5 percent, the largest gain since January.
