Each month, Nielsen conducts a monthly consumer confidence survey for the Conference Board.  The current report covers the period ending April 16th.  The Consumer Confidence Index rose from 109.0 in March to 121.7 in April.  The Present Situation Index reflecting current business and labor market conditions increased substantially from 110.1 in March to 139.6 in April.  The Expectation Index, based on short-term outlook for business and labor rose from 108.3 in March to 109.8 in April.

Lynn Franco, Senior Director of Economic Indicators at the Conference Board stated, “Consumer confidence has rebounded sharply over the last two months and is now at its highest levels since February 2020.”  Franco continued, “Consumers’ assessment of current conditions improved significantly in April suggesting the economic recovery strengthened further, early in the second quarter.” 

The proportion of consumers claiming that business conditions are favorable increased from 18.3 percent to 23.3 percent with a proportional decline among those that considered conditions were “bad”.  Consumers commenting that jobs are “plentiful” increased from 26.5 percent to 37.9 percent.  This response is supported by the number of Help Wanted signs noted during a visit to Northwest Ohio during the last week of April.  Egg producers are also complaining of intense competition from manufacturing plants for available workers paying higher rates and offering benefits beyond the traditional scale offered in intensive livestock production.