LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — Consumers might be feeling a little bit better about the state of the economy.
That's according to a report released Tuesday, which showed that consumer confidence nationwide picked up in May.
Non-partisan think tank The Conference Board puts out monthly numbers designed to measure how shoppers feel about how they're spending their money.
For May, the board's consumer confidence index score came in at 102, an increase from 97.5 for the month of April. It came after three consecutive months of decline and signals that the American public might feel at least a little bit better about costs that have steadily increased in recent years, largely because of inflation.
Still, consumers in the Las Vegas valley haven't been noticing much relief. That's a group that includes Jan Bosworth, a Las Vegas resident who was out and about buying groceries Tuesday afternoon.
"It seems like prices are double what they used to be not very long ago," Bosworth says. "I can't explain it, but it seems like everything is marked up. It's kind of sticker shock anymore."
Bosworth says many people she knows have been feeling the pain of rising costs. Economic sentiment has largely been a mixed bag for a long time in America.
On one hand, unemployment rates have remained low and wages have increased in many cases in recent years, but the cost of everyday items, like groceries and gas, have remained stubbornly high.
At a gas station near Chinatown, west of the Strip, on Tuesday, regular unleaded was going for over $4 per gallon, though gas prices in Las Vegas have actually come down in the past week — close to eight cents per gallon, according to GasBuddy.
"Gas is important. You have to get to work if you're like me," says Jeff Kimura, a motorist who had stopped to fill up. "It's all inflation, definitely. Sometimes, you have to make choices. You have to eat too."
As for the report from The Conference Board, it wasn't all rosy news for consumers. According to the think tank's "expectations index," it came in under 80 again in May. The board considers any month under 80 to be a warning sign that a recession could be in the country's future.
"The overall confidence gauge remained within the relatively narrow range it has been hovering in for more than two years," said Dana Peterson, chief economist at the board, as part of a prepared statement.
Dr. Stephen Miller is a professor at UNLV and the top researcher for the school's Center for Business and Economic Research. He says he's not putting a lot of stock in the May consumer confidence index score.
"It's no big deal, I don't think," Miller says. "The confidence index samples 3,000 people nationwide. It's an attempt to measure what's going to happen with consumer spending in the near future. At the center, we're still pretty positive about the economy, but something to maybe be concerned about is the amount of credit card debt people are taking on in order to finance their consumer consumption activity."
According to a recent report from the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, the percentage of credit card holders in the U.S. with delinquent debt continued to rise last quarter and now sits at about 10% of all cardholders.
Still, metrics have shown that grocery prices have retreated recently, though prices for many items remain high.
"It looks like grocery prices are going to be coming down," Miller says. "The fast food industry is competing on a downward trajectory too."
For many consumers like Bosworth, though, any declines at the supermarket haven't been very noticeable.
"I have friends who are retired and on a fixed income," Bosworth says. "It's been hard for them."
