The Conference Board's Consumer Confidence Index registered another solid gain in November. The Index now stands at 91.7, up from 81.7 in October. The Present Situation Index surged to 80.1 from 67. The Expectations Index rose to 99.4 from 91.5.

The Consumer Confidence Survey is based on a representative sample of 5,000 U.S. households. The monthly survey is conducted for The Conference Board by NFO WorldGroup.

Consumers' assessment of current business conditions improved significantly in November. Those saying jobs are "hard to get" declined to 29.5 percent from 33.7 percent. Those saying jobs are abundant increased to 13.2 percent from 11.8 percent. Consumers' appraisal of current business conditions also improved. Those rating conditions as "good" increased to 19.9 percent from 17.1 percent. Those claiming conditions were "bad" fell to 24.0 percent from 28.1 percent.

Consumers' short-term outlook continues to improve. Consumers anticipating business conditions to pick up over the next six months rose to 24.1 percent from 23.5 percent. Consumers expecting the opposite declined to 7.1 percent from 11 percent.