U.S. Consumer Confidence Shows Notable Rebound In April 4/26/2011 11:02 AM ET http://www.rttnews.com/Content/ForexTopStory.aspx?Id=1606280&SM=1 Commentary (RTTNews) - After reporting a notable drop in U.S. consumer confidence in the month of March, the Conference Board released a report on Tuesday showing that confidence rebounded by more than anticipated in April. The Conference Board said its consumer confidence index rose to 65.4 in April from an upwardly revised 63.8 in March. Economists had been expecting the index to climb to 65.0 from the 63.4 originally reported for the previous month. "Consumers' short-term outlook improved slightly, suggesting that the uncertainty expressed last month is easing," said Lynn Franco, Director of the Conference Board Consumer Research Center. "Inflation expectations, which had spiked, retreated somewhat in April." She added, "Although confidence remains weak, consumers' assessment of current conditions gained ground for the seventh straight month, a sign that the economic recovery continues." The present situation index rose to 39.6 in April from 37.5 in March, reflecting the improvement in consumers' appraisal of present-day conditions. While consumers saying business conditions are "good" edged down to 14.8 percent from 15.0 percent, those saying conditions are "bad" also slipped to 36.4 percent from 36.6 percent. Consumers also had a more favorable assessment of the labor market, with those saying jobs are "hard to get" falling to 41.8 percent from 44.4 percent and those saying jobs are "plentiful" rising to 5.2 percent from 4.6 percent. The report also showed that the expectations index rose to 82.6 in April from 81.3 in March after showing a notable drop in the previous month. The Conference Board said consumers expecting business conditions to worsen over the next six months fell to 14.2 percent from 15.5 percent, although those expecting conditions to improve also declined to 18.8 percent from 20.8 percent. The outlook for the labor market was mixed, with consumers expecting more jobs falling to 17.5 percent from 19.6 percent, while those anticipating fewer jobs dropped to 19.0 percent from 20.5 percent. Meanwhile, the Conference Board said the proportion of consumers expecting an increase in their incomes improved to 16.7 percent from 15.2 percent. Peter Boockvar, equity strategist at Miller Tabak, said, "Bottom line, a still improving labor market seems to be offsetting the rise in gasoline and food prices for now in terms of consumer psyche." by RTT Staff Writer