U.S. consumer confidence improved this month, while the U.S. economy grew a bit faster than first thought.
Tuesday's report from the Conference Board shows consumer confidence rose to its highest level since September, snapping a two-month losing streak. In a survey, consumers expressed more faith that business conditions and the labor market would improve.
A separate report from the Commerce Department shows the U.S. economy expanded at a 1.1 percent annual rate in the first three months of this year. That is a slightly better expansion of the gross domestic product than an earlier preliminary estimate. Experts say new data show stronger sales of exports and software.
Economist Gus Faucher of PNC Bank says GDP growth appears to have "bounced back" up to a modest 2.5 percent annual pace in the second quarter. But he writes that economic uncertainties following Britain's vote to leave the European Union cloud the outlook.
Faucher says uncertainty and wide swings on stock markets could make U.S. businesses more cautious and consumers less willing to spend, which could slow economic growth.
The GDP is the total of all the goods and services produced in a nation, and is the broadest measure of economic health.
