Report: American Confidence in the Economy Reaches 16-Year High

Americans are more confident about the economy now than in the past 16 years, according to a new report on consumer comfort data released Thursday.

Bloomberg reported that Americans felt more optimistic about the country’s economic state, personal finances, and the buying climate.

According to the data, the weekly consumer comfort index jumped to 51.4, the highest level it has been since August 19, 2001, when it was 49.6.

Consumers have a reason to be confident in the economy—stocks reached record highs, especially when Apple’s jump in earnings drove the Dow Jones average above 22,000 for the first time.

America also created one million jobs in the first six months President Trump has been in office and added 231,000 additional jobs in June alone. The increase in job openings, not just in newly created jobs, also give many Americans, especially the low-income and unemployed, a reason to be confident in the economy.

The consumer comfort indexes of lower-income Americans and the unemployed have also shown record increases.

The comfort index for earners making less than $50,000 a year went up by one point to 37.9—the strongest showing for that group of earners since December 2010.

Among the unemployed, the comfort index climbed to 43.6, up from 40.9—the highest it’s been in a decade.

All four regions of the U.S. saw gains in consumer confidence, most notably in the South and the West. Comfort in the West reached its highest level since February, and the South saw its consumer comfort index rise to its strongest point since early April.