May Consumer Confidence Up More Than Expected

Consumer confidence increased in May to 73.6, according to the University of Michigan's report today.  That was 1.4 points above April's reading of 72.2, and except for January's index level of 74.4, the highest confidence level since January 2008.  Reviewing the history of the Michigan Index back to 1978 in the graph above, consumer confidence was actually lower during the 1980 recession than in the most recent 2008-2009 recession.