Consumer Confidence Rises Slightly in May

he Conference Board said Tuesday that its consumer confidence index rose to 93.2 this month, from a revised 93 in April.

Increased confidence from a pickup in hiring was restrained by rising gasoline prices and concerns about the violence in the Middle East, the board said in its report.

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.

The component of the confidence index that tracks consumers' expectations for the next six months rose to 95.2 from 94.8. A gauge of optimism about the present situation slipped to 90.3 this month from 90.4 in March.

Despite a large increase in payrolls the past two months, the Conference Board's jobs-hard-to-get index rose to 30.6% from a revised 28.0% in April, but the number of consumers saying jobs were plentiful rose to 16.6% from a revised 15.6%.

The Conference Board surveys 5,000 households about general economic conditions, employment prospects and spending plans for the index.