The Conference Board’s consumer confidence index jumped in March following an increase in February. The index rose to a reading of 125.6 (1985=100), up from 116.1 in February.

“Consumer confidence increased sharply in March to its highest level since December 2000 (index, 128.6),” said Lynn Franco, director of economic indicators at The Conference Board. “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.”  

Consumers’ assessment of the labor market was also more positive and outlook more upbeat. The proportion expecting more jobs in the months ahead increased to 24.8% in March from 20.9% in February while those anticipating fewer jobs declined to 12.2% from 13.6%. The number of consumers stating that jobs were “plentiful” rose to 31.7% in March from 26.9% in February while those claiming jobs are “hard to get” decreased moderately to 19.5% from 19.9%.

The percentage of consumers expecting their incomes to increase rose to 21.5% from 19.2% while the proportion expecting a decrease fell to 7.0% from 8.1%.