Consumers' opinions reflect challenging times

Although consumers remain concerned about the weak job market and overall economic conditions, the Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index for the month of March indicates that consumers are more optimistic about business conditions than they were last month. In February, the Conference Board reported that, 40.7 percent of consumers expected business conditions to worsen over the course of the next six months.

However, in March that number decreased to 39.1 percent of consumers.

The number of consumers who felt that there would be fewer jobs available in the coming months also decreased. In February, 47 percent of consumers felt there would be fewer jobs. That number fell by almost 5 percent in March, to 42.6 percent of consumers. Consumers who believed more jobs would be available increased to 7.1 percent from 6.8 in February. Opinions regarding the economy at large, however, remained grim.

General consumer confidence and the "Present Situation Index," a marker that indicates how confident consumers are in the current moment, continued to reflect the overall uncertainty in the economy. The "Consumer Confidence Index," the benchmark measure of consumers' general outlook, remained relatively flat in March after dropping significantly in February.

Lynn Franco, the Director of The Conference Board Consumer Research Center, commented on current consumer opinions in a statement. "Apprehension about the outlook for the economy, the labor market and earnings continues to weigh heavily on consumers' attitudes. Looking ahead, consumers remain extremely pessimistic about the short-term future and do not foresee a turnaround in economic conditions over the coming six months."

Perhaps indicative of general pessimism, the number of consumers who believed their incomes would increase over the course of the next few months dropped to just 7.5 percent in March from 7.9 percent in February. After the relatively dramatic drop in consumer confidence from January to February, the fact that many measures held steady from February to March may be a sign of improvement.

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--Bridget O'Sullivan