US consumer confidence likely strengthened further in June, helped by job growth

The Conference Board releases its June index on U.S. consumer confidence Tuesday at 10 a.m. Eastern.

CONFIDENCE UP: The expectation is that consumer confidence will rise to 97.4 in June, according to a survey of economists by data firm FactSet.

CONSUMER COMEBACK: Consumer confidence rebounded slightly to a reading of 95.4 in May, up from an April reading of 94.3, as the job market showed signs of improvement.

In June, the economy showed further signs of rebounding from a dismal start to the year with the labor market adding a surprisingly robust 280,000 jobs. The expectation is that stronger job growth will boost consumer spending, which accounts for 70 percent of economic activity.

The economy went into reverse in the first three months of the year with the gross domestic product, the broadest measure of economic health, contracting at an annual rate of 0.2 percent. Analysts are predicting a better performance in the April-June quarter with forecasts of growth rebounding to 2 percent or better and accelerating even further to growth of around 3 percent in the second half of the year.

A separate survey of consumer sentiment compiled by the University of Michigan that was released last week showed a gain to the highest reading since January.