Consumer confidence jumps as election uncertainty takes surprise backseat

Investing.com — US consumer confidence surged to the highest level since 2021 in October, taking some by surprise as a robust jobs market and falling gas prices overshadowed the usual drag on sentiment from election uncertainty.

“The Conference Board’s Consumer Confidence Index jumped to 108.7 in October, amid more favorable views of current conditions and improved expectations about the future,” Wells Fargo economists said in a Tuesday note.

The increase in confidence to the highest level since March 2021 comes as a surprise, the economists said, as election uncertainty tends to weigh on consumer moods in the months leading up to the vote.

The consumer confidence report showed that the election still ranks behind economic worries in consumers’ minds. 

“In fact, according to the Conference Board, mentions of the word ‘election’ ranked as the fifth highest mentioned topic in the October survey,” the economists said.

“Write-in responses making mention to the coming general election were below both 2016 and 2020 levels,” they added. 

Inflation, however, continues to front and center, the economists added, citing the release notes of the consumer confidence report.

Prices and inflation were still the top write-in response as the factors affecting consumers economic perceptions, the economists said.

Falling gas prices and renewed confidence in the labor market, however, have stifled some of these concerns.

“Amid slower inflation and somewhat improved job prospects, consumer plans to make a major purchase were broadly up across all categories,” Wells Fargo said.