Consumers are becoming more optimistic about the U.S. economy ahead of a contentious presidential election, even as job openings hit multi-year lows, according to a separate report released Tuesday. That’s what it means.
The Conference Board’s Consumer Confidence Index rose more than 11% to 138 in October, the biggest single-month acceleration since March 2021. Along with this, the board’s future situation expectation index rose nearly 8% to 89.1. This is well above the level below 80, which indicates a recession.
Economists surveyed by Dow Jones were looking for the headline number 99.5.
“Consumers’ assessment of current economic conditions has become more positive,” said Dana Peterson, the board’s chief economist. “Current views on employability have recovered after several months of weakness and may reflect improved labor market data.”
This sentiment comes as a Bureau of Labor Statistics report shows job openings fell to 7.44 million in September, down more than 400,000 from the previous month’s downwardly revised level and the lowest level since January 2021. At first glance, this seemed to be a contradiction. This figure was also below Wall Street. The prediction is 8 million.
The decline in job openings has resulted in a ratio of jobs to available workers of less than 1.1:1. By mid-2022, that number was more than 2:1.
Although the number of job openings fell, employment rose by 123,000 people over the same month. The turnover rate remained largely unchanged, but the turnover rate decreased by 107,000 people.
