Consumer confidence surges as election nears, while job openings move lower

Consumers grew more optimistic about the U.S. economy heading into the contentious presidential election even as job openings hit multi-year lows, according to separate reports released Tuesday.

The Conference Board’s consumer confidence index for October rose more than 11% to a reading of 138, its biggest one-month acceleration since March 2021. Along with that, the board’s expectations index of future conditions jumped nearly 8%, to a reading of 89.1 that is well clear of the sub-80 level that indicates a recession.

Economists surveyed by Dow Jones had been looking for a headline number of 99.5.

“Consumers’ assessments of current business conditions turned positive,” said Dana Peterson, the board’s chief economist. “Views on the current availability of jobs rebounded after several months of weakness, potentially reflecting better labor market data.”

That sentiment was seemingly at odds with a Bureau of Labor Statistics report showing that job openings slid to 7.44 million in September, off more than 400,000 from the previous month’s downwardly revised level and the lowest since January 2021. That number was also below a Wall Street forecast of 8.0 million.

The drop in openings took the ratio of job vacancies to available workers below 1.1 to 1. In mid-2022, the number was greater than 2 to 1.

Though the openings level moved lower, hires rose 123,000 on the month. Separations were little changed, while quits fell by 107,000.