The Conference Board’s Consumer Confidence Index rose in July on the strength of higher expectations for the future, the think tank reported on Tuesday.

At 97.2, July’s preliminary index (through July 20) is up 2.0 points from June’s 95.2 final tally and 4.2 points higher than the June level initially reported by the Board.

“All three components of the Expectation Index improved, with consumers feeling less pessimistic about future business conditions and employment, and more optimistic about future income,” Conference Board Senior Economist Stephanie Guichard said in a press release announcing the results. “Meanwhile, consumers' assessment of the present situation was little changed,” Guichard reported.

At 74.4, the Expectations Index component increased 4.5 points from June, with consumers expressing greater optimism for the next six months:

Looking ahead 12 months:

“July's modest gain in confidence was driven by consumers over 35 years old and shared across all income groups except those earning the least (with household annual income below $15K),” the Conference Board noted.

While the issue of tariffs ranked high on the list of topics consumers were focused on in July, the reconciliation legislation (Republicans’ “Big, Beautiful Bill”) recently signed into law did not.