Consumer confidence in the U.S. has improved by much more than expected in the month of March, according to a report released by the Conference Board on Tuesday.
The Conference Board said its consumer confidence index jumped to 82.3 in March from a revised 78.3 in February. Economists had been expecting the index to edge up to 78.4 from the 78.1 originally reported for the previous month.
With the much bigger than expected increase, the consumer confidence index reached its highest level since January of 2008.
The bigger than expected increase by the consumer confidence index reflected a rebound in expectations for the short-term outlook. The report showed that the expectations index surged up to 83.5 in March after tumbling to 76.5 in February.
The Conference Board said the percentage of consumers expecting business conditions to improve over the next six months rose to 18.1 percent from 17.3 percent, while those anticipating business conditions to worsen fell to 10.2 percent from 13.6 percent.
Consumers were also more optimistic about the outlook for the labor market, as those expecting more jobs in the months ahead edged up to 13.9 percent from 13.7 percent, while those expecting fewer jobs dropped to 18.0 percent from 20.9 percent.
Lynn Franco, Director of Economic Indicators at the Conference Board, said, "While consumers were moderately more upbeat about future job prospects and the overall economy, they were less optimistic about income growth."
The report showed that consumers expecting their incomes to grow fell to 14.9 from 15.8 percent, but those anticipating a decline in their incomes also decreased to 12.1 percent from 13.4 percent.
Meanwhile, the Conference Board said the present situation index edged down to 80.4 in March from 81.0 in February after trending upward for four months.
Consumers saying business conditions are "good" increased to 22.9 percent from 21.2 percent, but those saying conditions are "bad" also rose to 23.2 percent from 22.0 percent.
The Conference Board said the current assessment of the labor market was relatively unchanged, with those saying jobs are "plentiful" dipping to 13.1 percent from 13.4 percent, while those saying jobs are "hard to get" edged up to 33.0 percent from 32.4 percent.
"Overall, consumers expect the economy to continue improving and believe it may even pick up a little steam in the months ahead," Franco said.
Friday morning, Thomson Reuters and the University of Michigan are scheduled to release their revised report on consumer sentiment in the month of March.
Economists expect the consumer sentiment index for March to be upwardly revised to 80.5 from the mid-month reading of 79.9. The index came in at 81.6 in February.
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