Consumer  Confidence  Shows  Marked  Spring  Increase

Americans are feeling better in general about financial matters, with a discernible uptick in consumer sentiment.

According to a new survey conducted by the company Ipsos, consumer confidence has reached the 60.7 mark out of an index topping off at 100.

That number is only the latest of a series of index results showing an improved national attitude via the economy, and is a full 10 points higher than the confidence level as seen last year during the worst of the pandemic.

The survey, released by Ipsos and the publication Forbes Advisor, even showed an increase in optimism among those who are currently unemployed, with a positive index result of 55.3, compared with a previous response of around 49.

The consumer confidence levels, perhaps not surprisingly, are significantly higher at 62.8 for those who are currently employed, and 61.8 for part-time workers.

The trend lines for all three categories, full-time workers, part-time workers, and those not currently employed, have all increasingly improved since early January.

Those trend lines in many ways reflect reality, with only 547,000 jobless claims filed in late April, down from 4.5 million in the spring of 2020.

The overall trend, reports the Forbes Advisor, “signals that Americans believe there are brighter days ahead.”

The latest survey comes as Covid-19 vaccinations are becoming more widely available and a federal stimulus check of $1,400 on average has been mailed to millions of Americans.

Anticipating a more buoyant rest of the year, respondents to the Ipsos/Forbes survey believe by a 62% to 32% margin that the economy will “rebound quickly once restrictions are lifted on businesses.”

A somewhat smaller 55% of respondents said they were in favor of fully reopening the economy as soon as possible, even if the pandemic is not fully contained. Last summer 40% of respondents said they were in favor of an immediate reopening.

By  Garry Boulard

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