Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index explained
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By Ken Chigbo, Founder, KenMacro. Published 2026-05-13.
Quick answer
The Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index is a monthly US survey gauging how households feel about current business and labour conditions, plus their six-month outlook. Released by The Conference Board on the last Tuesday of each month at 10:00am ET, it splits into a Present Situation Index and an Expectations Index.
What is Conference Board consumer confidence?
The Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index, often abbreviated CCI, is a composite sentiment indicator built from a monthly survey of roughly 3,000 US households. Respondents rate current business conditions, current labour market conditions, business expectations six months ahead, income expectations, and job availability ahead. Answers are aggregated into two sub-indices: the Present Situation Index and the Expectations Index. The headline figure is benchmarked to a base year value of 100. The Conference Board, a private non-profit research organisation, publishes the release on the last Tuesday of each month at 10:00am ET, alongside the Labour Differential, a closely watched gauge of perceived job availability.
How traders use Conference Board consumer confidence
The desk treats CCI as a coincident-to-leading indicator that informs USD positioning and rates expectations into the FOMC cycle. Retail traders typically watch the headline beat or miss against consensus, but the institutional read sits in the Labour Differential, the gap between respondents saying jobs are plentiful versus hard to get. That sub-component tracks the unemployment rate with a useful lead and feeds nowcasts for non-farm payrolls. A sharp drop in the Expectations Index, particularly below the recessionary threshold The Conference Board publishes around 80, prompts desks to reassess consumption forecasts and front-end rates pricing. Dollar pairs, US equity index futures, and 2-year Treasury yields tend to show the cleanest immediate reaction in the minutes after the 10:00am ET print.
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Common misconceptions about the Consumer Confidence Index
Traders frequently confuse the Conference Board CCI with the University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment Index. They are separate surveys, with different sample sizes, question sets, and release dates. The Michigan reading skews more sensitive to gasoline prices and inflation expectations, while CCI weights the labour market more heavily. A second misconception is that the headline number drives the reaction. In practice, the Labour Differential and Expectations sub-index often move the tape more than the composite. Finally, CCI is not a hard data print. It is survey-based sentiment, and a strong reading does not automatically translate into stronger retail sales or payrolls the following month.
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Frequently asked
When is the Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index released?
The Conference Board publishes the Consumer Confidence Index on the last Tuesday of each month at 10:00am ET, covering survey data collected through roughly the 18th of that month. A preliminary figure is not released, only the single monthly print, although prior months are subject to revision. The release calendar is published in advance on The Conference Board website, and the data drops simultaneously across major terminals including Bloomberg and Reuters.
What is the difference between CCI and the University of Michigan sentiment survey?
Both measure US household sentiment, but they use different methodologies. The Conference Board CCI surveys around 3,000 households and emphasises labour market perceptions through questions on job availability. The University of Michigan survey polls around 500 to 600 households and weights inflation expectations and personal finances more heavily. Michigan releases preliminary and final readings each month, while CCI prints once. The two indices often diverge, and the desk reads them together rather than as substitutes.
Does the Consumer Confidence Index move forex markets?
It can, particularly when the print deviates meaningfully from consensus or when the Labour Differential shifts sharply. The cleanest reaction tends to be in USD pairs against the euro, yen, and sterling, alongside US 2-year yields and equity index futures. However, CCI is generally a second-tier release compared with non-farm payrolls or CPI, so the move is usually contained unless it confirms or contradicts a developing macro narrative around the Fed.
What is the Labour Differential within the CCI release?
The Labour Differential is the percentage of respondents saying jobs are plentiful minus the percentage saying jobs are hard to get. It is published as part of the monthly CCI release and is one of the most useful sub-components for tracking US labour market tightness. Economists at major banks regularly use it as an input into payrolls nowcasts and unemployment rate models, because it tends to lead official Bureau of Labour Statistics data by a short window.
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