The Conference Board's U.S. consumer confidence index rose in May to 54.9 from a upwardly revised 40.8 in April, the private business research group reported on Tuesday. April's number was originally 39.2 Economists polled by Reuters had forecast a reading of 42.0 for the May index. Below are the highlights of the survey: COMPOSITE SERIES INDEX NUMBERS (1985=100 Seasonally Adjusted) May April Rev From March Overall Index 54.9 40.8 39.2 26.9 Present Situation 28.9 25.5 23.7 21.9 Expectations 72.3 51.0 49.5 30.2 PRESENT SITUATION INDEX: PERCENT May April Rev From March Business Conditions Good 8.7 7.9 7.6 6.9 Bad 45.3 44.9 45.7 51.0 Normal 46.0 47.2 46.7 42.1 Employment Jobs Plentiful 5.7 4.9 4.5 4.7 Jobs not so plentiful 49.6 48.5 47.6 46.5 Jobs hard to get 44.7 46.6 47.9 48.8 EXPECTATIONS FOR SIX MONTHS HENCE: PERCENT May April Rev From March Business Conditions Better 23.1 15.7 15.6 9.6 Worse 17.8 24.4 25.3 37.8 Same 59.1 59.9 59.1 52.6 Employment More jobs 20.0 14.2 13.9 7.3 Fewer jobs 25.2 32.5 33.6 41.6 Same 54.8 53.3 52.5 51.1 Income Increase 10.2 8.3 8.0 7.8 Decrease 17.7 21.4 21.6 23.9 Same 72.1 70.3 70.4 68.3 Inflation Rate (Non-Seasonally Adjusted) Average May April Rev from March 5.6 5.9 5.9 5.8 The monthly survey of roughly 5,000 U.S. households is conducted by NFO Research Inc. of Greenwich, Connecticut, for the Conference Board, a New York-based business and economics research group funded by major corporations globally.

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