2017.02.2810:18:00UTC+00U.S. Consumer Confidence Unexpectedly Improves In February

Consumer confidence in the U.S. unexpectedly improved in the month of February, according to a report released by the Conference Board on Tuesday.

The Conference Board said its consumer confidence index climbed to 114.8 in February after falling to a revised 111.6 in January.

Economists had expected the index to edge down to 110.9 from the 111.8 originally reported for the previous month.

With the unexpected rebound, the consumer confidence index rose to its highest level since reaching 116.3 in July of 2001.

The report said the president situation index increased to 133.4 in February from 130.0 in January, as consumers rated current business and labor market conditions more favorably.

Consumer saying business conditions are "good" edged down to 28.7 percent from 29.0 percent, but those saying conditions are "bad" also fell to 13.2 percent from 15.9 percent.

While the percentage of consumers saying jobs are "plentiful" dipped to 26.2 percent from 27.1 percent, those saying jobs are "hard to get" also decreased to 20.3 percent from 21.1 percent.

The Conference Board said the expectations index also climbed to 102.4 in February from 99.3 in the previous month.

Consumers expecting business conditions to improve over the next six months increased to 24.0 percent from 22.9 percent, although those expecting conditions to worsen also inched up to 11.1 percent from 10.8 percent.

The percentage of consumers expecting more jobs in the months ahead ticked up to 20.4 percent from 19.7 percent, while those anticipating fewer jobs dropped to 13.6 percent from 14.4 percent.

"Overall, consumers expect the economy to continue expanding in the months ahead," said Lynn Franco, Director of Economic Indicators at the Conference Board.