The healthier jobs market is also driving confidence among American consumers. For instance, the Bloomberg Consumer Comfort Index rose to 43.6 in the week ended January 4, its highest level since October 2007, reports Victoria Stilwell for Bloomberg.
Additionally, confidence looks even better among lower-income groups, which suggests that low gas prices and low mortgage rates are also allowing consumers to buy more goods.
Employment has “been the overriding factor boosting consumer confidence,” Jennifer Lee, senior economist at BMO Capital Markets, said in the Bloomberg article. “You can point to gasoline prices, you can point to low rates in general, but at the end of the day, the job market is the most important.”
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Max Chen contributed to this article.