Jakarta – The consumer confidence index (CCI) rose 1 percent to 99.5, from 98.5 in May, after declining by 2.2 percent in April, according to Danareksa Research Institute's (DRI) survey.

"Our latest survey reveals that consumers gave more positive assessments on current economic conditions and the state of the job market," said DRI in a press statement received by The Jakarta Post on Monday.

Consumer concerns on job scarcity eased from 39.0 to 36.7 percent in May, while consumer concerns on the high prices and scarcity of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) also declined from 14.3 to 10.6 percent in May.

Of the two main components that make up the CCI, only one increased in May, says DRI, adding that the component measuring consumer sentiment toward current conditions, the present situations index (PSI), climbed 4.0 percent to 84.7 percent, as sentiment toward the current state of the economy and the job market improved.

"By contrast, the other main component of the CCI – the one measuring consumer sentiment toward the future (the Expectations Index, or EI) – crept down by 0.7 percent to 110.6. The fall in this index reflects weaker consumer optimism toward the economy and the job market outlook over the next six months," the statement says.

With consumers less upbeat on the national economic outlook, buying intentions for durable goods also declined to 40.49 percent from 41.59 percent in the previous month.

"Nevertheless, on a yearly comparison, buying intentions for durable goods are still higher since only 39.50 percent of consumers expressed plans to purchase a durable good back in May 2017," it says. (bbn)

Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2018/06/04/consumer-confidence-index-rises-1-to-99-5-in-may.html