Consumers slightly more confident
Index of consumers' attitudes rises in March but remains near historic lows as unemployment rises.
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- A key index of consumer confidence rebounded slightly in March, but it held near historic lows as consumers remained uneasy about the economy and the labor market.
The Conference Board, a New York-based business research group, said its Consumer Confidence Index rose to 26 in March from a revised reading of 25.3 in February.
Last month's reading was the lowest since the index was created in 1967; this month's increase marked the first rise since November.
Economists were expecting a reading of 28, according to a survey by Briefing.com.
"Apprehension about the outlook for the economy, the labor market and earnings continues to weigh heavily on consumers' attitudes," said Lynn Franco, director of the Conference Board's consumer research center, in a statement.
The index, which is based on a survey of 5,000 U.S. households, was boosted by a slight increase in the component that measures future expectations. Its current situation index, however, declined.
Employment remained a serious concern for most consumers, with those saying jobs are "hard to get" increasing to 48.7% from 46.9% in February.
"The labor differential continued to widen as the economy hemorrhaged jobs in the first quarter," said Adam York, an economist at Wachovia Economics Group, in a research report. "Until this improves confidence will not."
Meanwhile, the number of consumers expecting business conditions to worsen over the next six months edged down to 39.1% in March from 40.7% in February. And the number of people expecting a scarcity of jobs in the near future also declined.
Still, most economists say consumers will remain wary of spending until the job market picks up.
"Consumer confidence has shown a long-run correlation with conditions in the labor market," York said. "With the economy having lost more jobs in this cycle since World War II it is no surprise that confidence remained at extremely depressed levels."
The government is expected to report Friday that the economy lost 656,000 jobs in March, with the unemployment rate increasing to 8.5% from 8.1%.
Economists closely watch measures of consumer confidence because spending by consumers makes up nearly two thirds of the nation's gross domestic product.
The government said last week that GDP, which is the broadest measure of economic activity, fell at an annual rate of 6.3% during the final three months of 2008.
Most economists expect GDP to fall further in the first quarter before rebounding near the end of the year. 
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