A monthly measure of consumer confidence has retreated from its highest reading in more than 16 years, but still reflects expectations the economy will continue to grow.

The Conference Board reported that its Consumer Confidence Index stood at 120.3 in April, down 4.3 points from what had been the highest reading since December 2000.

“Consumers assessed current business conditions and, to a lesser extent, the labor market less favorably in March. Looking ahead, consumers were somewhat less optimistic about the short-term outlook for business conditions, employment and income prospects. Despite April’s decline, consumers remain confident that the economy will continue to expand in the months ahead,” said Lynn Franco, director of economic indicators for the Conference Board.

The business research and membership association bases the index on the results of monthly surveys. Economists monitor the index because consumer spending accounts for more than two-thirds of economy activity.

For April, a component of the index tracking the present situation, fell 3.3 points to 140.6.

The share of consumers responding to the survey upon which the April index was based who described business conditions as “good” fell 2.2 points to 30.2 percent. The portion of those said conditions were “bad” rose seven-tenths of a point to 13.8 percent.

The share of consumers who called jobs “plentiful” fell a point to 30.8 percent. The portion of those who characterized jobs as “hard to get” held steady at 19.1 percent.

A component of the index tracking expectations declined 5.6 points to 106.7.

The portion of consumers who said they expect business conditions to improve over the next six months fell 2.1 points to 24.8 percent. The share of those anticipating worsening conditions rose 2.4 points to 10.9 percent.

The portion of those who said they expect more jobs to become available in coming months fell eight-tenths of a point to 23 percent. The share of those predicting fewer job openings rose four-tenths of a point to 13.1 percent.

While 19.3 percent of consumers expect their incomes to increase, down 3.2 points, 7.5 percent said they anticipate decreased incomes, unchanged from last month.