Highlights
The Bloomberg consumer comfort index showed some slippage in the latest week but is holding up better than other measures of consumer confidence. But according to the Bloomberg measures, confidence dropped last week from a two-month high. The Bloomberg consumer comfort index decreased to minus 37.5 in the week ended July 1 from minus 36.1 in the previous period. Even with the drop, the measure averaged minus 37.6 in the second quarter, the best showing since the first three months of 2008, helped in part by lower gasoline prices.

The Bloomberg index of whether consumers consider it a good time to buy declined to minus 42.4 after minus 40.9 the prior week. The gauge of personal finances fell to 1.8 from 4.4. The index of the state of the national economy was little changed at minus 71.7 after minus 71.9.

However, confidence may be improving in the near term as gasoline prices continue to ease, the latest initial jobless claims report showed unexpected improvement, and the ADP report for June was unexpectedly strong.