Consumer confidence in the U.S. rose in March to its highest level since the pandemic started a year ago, with Americans expressing more optimism about business and labor-market conditions in the coming months.
The Conference Board on Tuesday said its consumer-confidence index increased to 109.7 in March from 90.4 in February. The reading marked the third-consecutive monthly increase. Consumers have become more optimistic about the U.S. economy as vaccination counts rise, two rounds of government stimulus are distributed, businesses reopen and the economic recovery shows signs of accelerating.
“Consumers’ assessment of current conditions and their short-term outlook improved significantly, an indication that economic growth is likely to strengthen further in the coming months,” said Lynn Franco, senior director of economic indicators at the Conference Board.
Despite recent gains, the index remains below a pre-pandemic level of 132.6 posted in February of last year.
The present situation index, which reflects consumers assessment of current business and labor-market conditions, rose in March to 110.0 from 89.6 the previous month.
