Consumer Confidence Defies Expectations, Rises in April as Labor Market Outlook BrightensJohn Carney 28 Apr 2026
Consumer confidence rose in April to the best level of the year, as consumers took a more optimistic view of the jobs market and their income prospects.
The Conference Board’s Consumer Confidence Index climbed to 92.8 from an upwardly revised 92.2 in March, handily beating the consensus forecast of 89 in surveys of economists conducted by both Bloomberg and the Wall Street Journal.
The Expectations Index — measuring consumers’ six-month outlook for income, business, and labor market conditions — rose 1.2 points to 72.2, driven by improving views on both the job market and household income. The labor market differential, a closely watched measure that subtracts the share of consumers who say jobs are “hard to get” from those who say jobs are “plentiful,” widened to 7.5 percentage points from 6.1 in March. The improvement came primarily from a decline in the share of respondents reporting difficulty finding work, which fell to 19.8 percent from 21.3 percent.
The gains are particularly notable given the headwinds consumers faced during the April 1–22 survey period. Brent crude oil prices surged on the back of the Middle East conflict, sending gasoline prices visibly higher at the pump. The Conference Board’s own write-in data showed that consumer mentions of prices, oil and gas, and war all increased in frequency compared to March.
“Consumer confidence edged up in April but was overall little changed, despite material concern about rising gasoline prices as the war in the Middle East prompted a surge in Brent crude oil prices,” said Dana M. Peterson, the Conference Board’s chief economist. She noted that improved perceptions of the labor market and slightly more optimistic income expectations offset declining views of business conditions.
The nearly four-point beat over the consensus estimate suggests that economists may have overweighted the impact of energy prices and geopolitical anxiety on consumer attitudes while underweighting the stabilizing effect of a labor market that continues to show resilience. The March jobs report showed a rebound in hiring, with 178,000 positions added and the unemployment rate ticking down to 4.3 percent.
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https://www.breitbart.com/economy/2026/04/28/consumer-confidence-defies-expectations-rises-in-april-as-labor-market-outlook-brightens/
