Consumer confidence brightened last month.

The Conference Board said its consumer confidence index (1986=100) stood at 103.1 in May, up nearly six points from April’s 97.4. The poll of 5,000 households around the country also showed buying plans increasing for all major items it cited. In May, it found that 25.5% of the households queried believed that business conditions were “good,” compared to 23.3% responding the same way in April. Those expecting jobs to be more “plentiful” also rose, to 22.1% from 20.5%. More consumers in May also expressed intentions of making major purchases, the Conference Board said. Almost 9% of the respondents said they expected to buy a car, up from 7.2%, but still down from last year’s overall 9.6%.