New York, NY, Apr. 27--Greater optimism about the job market pushed consumers' confidence in the economy unexpectedly higher in April, according to a report released by a private research group Tuesday.
The Conference Board said that its consumer-confidence index for April rose to 92.9, after a revised 88.5 reading the month before.
The group also reported that its present-situation index, a gauge of consumers' assessment of current economic conditions, jumped to 90.6 in April from a revised 84.4 in March. Meanwhile, the measure that seeks to get a read on consumers' view of the outlook--the expectations index--rose to 94.5, from March's revised reading of 91.3.
"This latest improvement in consumer confidence was sparked by a more favorable assessment of current business and labor market conditions, and increased optimism about the next six months," said Conference Board economist Lynn Franco in a prepared statement. "The job market, which has a major impact on confidence, appears to be gaining strength."
The survey, a mail-based poll of 5,000 households, found that consumers' views of hiring took a turn toward the better in April. Those who deemed jobs difficult to find fell to 27.6%--the lowest reading since November 2002--versus 29.9% who said the same thing in March. Those who deem jobs as plentiful rose to 15.8%, after 14.7% the month before.
Meanwhile, those surveyed who said business conditions have gotten better stood at 21.4%, compared with the 20.7% who said the same thing in March.
