According to a report from Reuters, U.S. consumer confidence rebounded more than expected in February, but the share of consumers viewing jobs as “hard to get” increased to a five-year high, raising the risk of the unemployment rate increasing this month.
The improvement in confidence reported by the Conference Board on Tuesday was mostly among consumers aged 54 years or less, and respondents identifying as Republican and Independent. The mood remained downbeat among those 55 and older, as well as among Democrats. President Donald Trump was due to give his State of the Union address later on Tuesday when the report from Reuters was published, amid growing voter disapproval of his handling of the economy, mostly related to his sweeping import tariffs that have raised prices.
“Consumers’ write-in responses on factors affecting the economy continued to skew towards pessimism. Comments about prices, inflation and the cost of goods remained at the top of consumers’ minds,” said Dana Peterson, chief economist at the Conference Board. “Mentions of trade and politics also increased. Labor market mentions eased a bit, while observations about immigration increased somewhat.”
The Conference Board said its consumer confidence index increased 2.2 points to 91.2 this month. Data for January was revised higher to show the index at 89.0 instead of 84.5, which was the lowest level since May 2014. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast the index at 87.0. It is well below the four-year peak of 112.8 touched in November 2024.
The improvement and upward revision to January’s data mirror the University of Michigan’s consumer sentiment survey. The biggest increase in confidence was among households with annual incomes of $100,000-$124,999. Consumers making $15,000-$24,999 per year were less upbeat as were those in the $35,000-$49,999 and $50,000-$74,999 income groups.
The share of consumers saying “jobs were hard to get” climbed to 20.6, the highest level since February 2021, from 19.0 in January. This aligns with government data showing elevated readings on people collecting unemployment checks as well as the median duration of joblessness.
Opportunities remain scarce for young college graduates, labor market data shows.
Still, households also believed the availability of jobs had improved, with the share saying jobs were “plentiful” rising to 28.0 from 25.8 in January. That resulted in the survey’s so-called labor market differential, derived from data on respondents’ views on whether jobs are plentiful or hard to get, widening 0.6 percentage points to 7.4%.
This measure, which correlates to the unemployment rate in the Labor Department’s monthly employment report, was around 18.2% a year ago. The unemployment rate dropped to 4.3% in January from 4.4% in December. The median duration of unemployment is near four-year highs.
