The Conference Board, a private research group, said its index of consumer confidence jumped to 63.3 this month from a revised 57.7 in April, first reported as 57.9.
The May reading was much better than the 58.5 expected. The present situation index increased to 30.2 from a revised 28.2 in April, originally reported as 28.6. Consumer expectations for economic activity over the next six months jumped to 85.3 in May from an unrevised 77.4. The expectations index is up a steep 22.4 points since February and is at its highest since an 89.2 reading in August 2007, before the last recession began. Consumers felt only marginally better about the current job situation. The percentage of respondents who think jobs are "hard to get" fell to 43.6% from 44.8% in April, but those who think jobs are "plentiful" slipped to 4.6% from 4.7% in April.