The Bloomberg Consumer Comfort Index rose to negative 44.5, in the period ending April 3. This is up from negative 46.9 the prior week. A measure of Americans’ views of their own finances increased as well to the second-highest level since January 2010. Meanwhile, a gauge of perceptions of the economy advanced from a two-year low.
Bloomberg reports that the lowest jobless rate since 2009 and rising stock values are helping to alleviate rising gasoline prices, which have risen to the highest level in more than two years.
Figures from the Labor Department showed that fewer Americans filed first-time claims for unemployment insurance last week, indicating the labor-market recovery is being sustained.
However, the scare that companies will pass increasing raw-material costs along to customers remains.
“There is a risk that the gains in sentiment over the past two weeks will be reversed as the cost of commodities and energy are partially passed through downstream,” Joseph Brusuelas, a senior economist at Bloomberg LP in New York said.