The Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index®, which had increased in September, improved again in October. The Index now stands at 72.2 (1985=100), up from 68.4 in September. The Present Situation Index increased to 56.2 from 48.7. The Expectations Index rose to 82.9 from 81.5 last month. The monthly Consumer Confidence Survey®, based on a probability-design random sample, is conducted for The Conference Board by Nielsen, a leading global provider of information and analytics around what consumers buy and watch. The cutoff date for the preliminary results was October 18. Says Lynn Franco, Director of Economic ... (full story)