U.S. consumer confidence, which had improved in June, pulled back slightly in July, said a report by the research institute the Conference Board on Tuesday.

The Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index stood at 80.3 for July, down from 82.1 in June, according to the report. The June reading marked a more than five-year high and originally reported at 81.4.

The report showed that the present situation index increased to 73.6 from 68.7, while the expectations index decreased to 84.7 from 91.1 last month.

However, Lynn Franco, Director of Economic Indicators at The Conference Board, said "confidence remains well above the levels of a year ago, and consumers' assessment of current conditions continues to gain ground and expectations remain in expansionary territory despite the July retreat."

He added that overall, indications are that the economy is strengthening and may even gain some momentum in the months ahead.

The report showed consumers' assessment of the job market was more positive. Those claiming jobs are "plentiful" increased to 12.2 percent from 11.3 percent, while those claiming jobs are "hard to get" declined to 35.5 percent from 37.1 percent.

The monthly Consumer Confidence survey is conducted for the Conference Board by Nielsen, a leading global provider of information and analytics, and it surveys 3,000 households across the country each month.