Confidence among U.S. consumers increased by more than expected to open the second quarter of the year as the labor market continues to show signs of gradual improvement, according to Bloomberg. On Tuesday, the Conference Board reported that its confidence index rose to 65.4 in April from a revised reading of 63.8 the prior month, outpacing economists’ forecast for a more modest level of 64.5 in April. Despite the gain, the index is still well below the average of 97 recorded in the years of growth to December 2007.
The details of the report showed the sub-index of present conditions was up over two points to 39.6, which is the highest level of the gauge since November 2008. The sub-index of expectations for the next six months added more than one point to 82.6. Sixth consecutive months of job growth have left consumers more upbeat, with a larger portion of Americans reporting plentiful jobs and the fewest seeing jobs as hard to find since January 2009. However, the sub-index for greater jobs availability over the next six months fell more than two points to 17.5 in the latest report.