Consumer Confidence Flat in March

he Conference Board said Tuesday its consumer confidence index for March was 88.3, down slightly from a revised reading of 88.5 in February.

"While consumers claimed business conditions were more favorable in March than last month, they also claimed jobs were less readily available," said Lynn Franco, director of board’s Consumer Research Center.

The index is a prognosticator of consumer spending. When people are feeling confident about the economy, they are more likely to spend money, which increases the demand for trucking services.

A gauge of optimism about the present situation rose to 84.1 this month from 83.3 in February as consum-ers' assessments of the job market went from negative to mixed.

The component of the index tracking consumer expectations for the next six months fell to 91 from 91.9. While the percentage that thought more jobs would become available over that period fell to 15.7 from 16.4 last month, the number who saw fewer jobs fell to 17.3 from 18.8.

The Conference Board bases its sentiment index on a survey of 5,000 households about general economic conditions, their employment prospects and spending plans.

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