US consumer confidence soars to 14-month high; house prices accelerate

WASHINGTON: US consumer confidence jumped to a 14-month high in April as increased vaccinations against COVID-19 and additional fiscal stimulus allowed for more services businesses to reopen, boosting demand and hiring by companies.

The upbeat survey from the Conference Board on Tuesday, which also showed a strong increase in vacation plans, suggested the economy continued to power ahead early in the second quarter after what appears to have been robust growth in the first three months of the year, believed by many economists to have been the second strongest since 2003. Growth this year is expected to be the best in nearly four decades.

The Conference Board’s consumer confidence index raced to a reading of 121.7 this month. That was the highest level since February 2020, just before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, and followed a reading of 109.0 in March. It was the fourth straight monthly increase in the index.

Economists polled by Reuters had forecast the index would increase to a reading of 113.0 in April.

The survey’s present situation measure, based on consumers’ assessment of current business and labour market conditions, soared to a reading of 139.6 from 110.1 last month. But the expectations index, based on consumers’ short-term outlook for income, business and labour market conditions, ticked up to 109.8 from 108.3 in March.

A separate report on Tuesday showed the S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller house price index jumped 12% in February from a year ago, the fastest in 15 years, after rising 11.2% in January.

Accelerating house price inflation was corroborated by a third report showing the Federal Housing Finance Agency house price index shot up a record 12.2% on a year-on-year basis in February after increasing 12.1% in January.