Consumer confidence remained stable in October despite sharp gyrations in the stock market, the Conference Board reports.
A monthly survey conducted for the business-financed research group indicated consumers were positive in their assessments of business conditions during October and in their expectations for coming months.The Conference Board's Consumer Confidence index registered 116.4 in October, compared with 116.3 in the previous month and with a 1985 base of 100.
Among those responding to the survey of 5,000 households, 28.2 percent said business conditions were "good," compared with 27.1 percent in September, while those characterizing business conditions as "bad" was flat at 16.9 percent.
Some 30.4 percent said jobs were plentiful, unchanged from September, while 20.2 percent said jobs were hard to get, compared with 20.7 percent the month before.
Expectations about the next six months also were largely unchanged, the Conference Board said.