The Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index rose to its highest reading in a year during March. It now stands at a reading of 109.7, up from 90.4 in February.
“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.
The percentage of consumers expecting business conditions will improve over the next six months rose to 40.8% in the survey for the March report from 30.7% in February. In addition, fewer consumers, 11.0% in March, thought conditions would worsen; it was 17.7% in February.
Turning to jobs, 36.1% of consumers in March expected more jobs in the months ahead, up from 27.4% in February. Only 13.4% expected fewer jobs ahead compared to 21.3% in February who expected fewer jobs ahead.