Consumer Confidence Shoots Up to 16-Year High

Consumer confidence shot up in March to a 16-year high, posting a 125.6 reading in The Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index®. The Expectations reading of the Index rose to 103.9, while the Present Situation reading rose to 143.1. February’s reading was 116.1.

“Consumer confidence increased sharply in March to its highest level since December 2000 (128.6),” said Lynn Franco, director of Economic Indicators at The Conference Board, in a statement. “Consumers’ assessment of current business and labor market conditions improved considerably. Consumers also expressed much greater optimism regarding the short-term outlook for business, jobs and personal income prospects. Thus, consumers feel current economic conditions have improved over the recent period, and their renewed optimism suggests the possibility of some upside to the prospects for economic growth in the coming months.”

The percentage of consumers who believe business conditions are “good,” as defined by the Index, increased from 28.3 percent in February to 32.2 percent in March; the percentage of those who believe business conditions are “bad” decreased from 13.4 percent in February to 12.9 percent in March. The percentage of those who expect business conditions to improve increased from 23.9 percent in February to 27.1 percent in March; the percentage of those who expect business conditions to worsen decreased from 10.5 percent in February to 8.4 percent in March.

The percentage of consumers who believe jobs are “plentiful” increased from 26.9 percent in February to 31.7 percent in March, according to the Index; the percentage of those who believe jobs are “hard to get” decreased from 19.9 percent in February to 19.5 percent in March. The percentage of those who expect more jobs in the coming months increased from 20.9 percent in February to 24.8 percent in March; the percentage of those who expect less jobs in the coming months decreased from 13.6 percent in February to 12.2 percent in March.

The percentage of consumers who expect higher incomes, as well, increased from 19.2 percent in February to 21.5 percent in March; the percentage of those who expect less decreased from 8.1 percent in February to 7 percent in March.

Source:  RisMedia / The Conference Board