WASHINGTON, June 30 (Reuters) - U.S. consumer confidence nudged higher in June as a fragile truce in the Middle East conflict weighed down on gasoline prices, while households' perceptions of labor market conditions deteriorated, with the share viewing jobs as hard to get rising to near a 5-1/2 year-high, a survey showed on Tuesday.
The Conference Board said its consumer confidence index rose to 91.2 this month from a downwardly revised 90.6 in May. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast the index rising to 94.7 from a previously reported 93.1 in May. Gasoline prices dropped below $4 a gallon in mid-June for the first time since the U.S.-Israel war with Iran started at the end of February, data from motorist advocacy group AAA showed.
"Consumer appraisals of current business conditions were slightly more positive compared to last month," said Dana Peterson, chief economist at the Conference Board.
"However, perceptions of the current labor market softened measurably as the percentage of consumers saying jobs were 'hard to get' rose to 22.5%, the highest level since January 2021. Moreover, consumers anticipate little change in the labor market six months from now."
Reporting by Lucia Mutikani; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama
