Consumer confidence - once again - surges to a new recovery high

Consumer confidence is up and is led by strength in the current assessment which points to gains for consumer readings in August. Consumer confidence rose 2.1 points to a new recovery high of 92.4 reflecting a 6.7 point surge in the present situation component to 94.6. The gain in this component reflects improvement in August employment with substantially more consumers saying jobs are now plentiful, at 18.2 percent vs July's 15.6 percent, and a bit fewer saying jobs are currently hard to get, at 30.6 percent vs July's 30.9 percent.

The gain in the present situation offsets softness in the expectations component which is down 1.0 point to 90.9. But expectations is a comparatively vague component, reflecting the long-term outlook for jobs and income. Other details include gains for home and auto buying plans and a minimal 1 tenth uptick in 12-month inflation expectations to 5.5 percent.

This report is very positive and underscores the improvement underway this month in jobless claims. The jobs market is more secure than it's been and is lifting consumer spirits.