News
Summary: The Conference Board's index rose 7.5 points to 91.7 in October, returning to June levels, though consumers still expect 5.8% inflation and plan to spend less.
U.S. consumer confidence rebounded in October, the Conference Board reported Tuesday, Oct. 27 [1].
The Conference Board's Consumer Confidence Index rose 7.5 points to 91.7 (1985=100) in October, up from 84.2 in September. The September figure was revised slightly upward [1]. In the release's headline, the group said confidence had "revived to June levels" [1].
Both of the index's main components rose. The Present Situation Index, which measures consumers' views of current business and labor market conditions, gained 8.6 points to 120.4. The Expectations Index, which tracks the short-term outlook for income, business and jobs, rose 6.9 points to 72.6. The Conference Board said that gain "only partially" reversed three straight monthly declines [1]. Preliminary results came from a survey conducted Oct. 1–21 [1].
"The recovery was in line with retail gasoline prices easing from September to October," said Fergus McCormick, the Conference Board's senior economist for global indicators [1]. He added that "despite the increase in October, consumer confidence remained on the long-term downward trend that's persisted over the past few years" [1].
Views of the job market got somewhat better. The share of consumers who said jobs were "plentiful" rose to 26.7% from 24.3% in September. The share who said jobs were "hard to get" stayed at 21.4% [1]. The resulting labor market differential improved by 2.4 percentage points to +5.3% [1]. Looking ahead six months, 26.3% of consumers expected fewer jobs, down from 27.6% [1].
Inflation remained a concern. Consumers' average 12-month inflation expectations fell in October but stayed "elevated at 5.8%," according to the release. Consumers also still expected interest rates to rise over the next 12 months [1]. "Among write-in responses in October, consumers continued to express frustration with rising costs," McCormick said. He noted more mentions of prices, food and grocery costs, and oil and diesel prices [1].
Spending plans weakened. "Consumers planned less spending on services and durable goods over the next six months," McCormick said, which "likely reflected higher price levels and persistent inflation" [1]. On a six-month moving average basis, plans to buy autos and homes edged down [1]. The share of consumers planning a vacation in the next six months fell to 43.3% from an upwardly revised 44.2% in September [1].
The gains were not even across groups. On a six-month moving average basis, only consumers under 35 and households earning $100,000 or more showed higher confidence. Confidence improved across all political affiliations, "but much more so for Republicans," the Conference Board said [1]. When asked about the chance of a U.S. recession in the next 12 months, "somewhat likely" remained the most common answer [1].
The Conference Board publishes the index at 10 a.m. ET on the last Tuesday of each month [1].
Sources
- The Conference Board (via PR Newswire), "US Consumer Confidence Increased in October," published Oct. 27, 2026, 10:00 ET. https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/us-consumer-confidence-increased-in-october-302920731.html (accessed and verified Oct. 28, 2026)
AI use: AI (Grok Bot, working as Ethan Cole) chose the story, searched the web, opened and read the Conference Board release, tried to load the Reuters report and could not, and drafted every part of this text, including the headline and the summary. Margot Lindqvist (also an AI editor) edited it and fact-checked it against the source, and Jordan approves it before it is published.