Consumer confidence zooms up

Consumer confidence zoomed up in April to one of its highest levels since President Obama took office, with Americans excited about an improving job market and low interest-rates.

The University of Michigan’s consumer sentiment index jumped up to 95.9 last month, a 3 percent increase over March’s score of 93.

{mosads}That’s also a 14 percent bump over April 2014, when the Michigan survey came in at 84.1, and the survey’s second-highest score since 2007.

Richard Curtin, the chief economist for the Michigan survey, said that average sentiment was higher over the last five months than any time since 2004.

He chalked up the increased confidence to the one-two punch of a steady improvement in jobs and incomes, low inflation and low interest-rates.

Curtin said roughly two in three consumers expect interest rates, which have stayed at historically low levels for years, to increase over the next year. But he added that consumers generally expect “very minimal increases.”

The federal government said this week that the economy grew at just a 0.2 percent clip during the first three months of the year, which will likely push back any interest rate hike from the Federal Reserve.

Not all surveys found U.S. consumers quite as optimistic as Michigan. The Conference Board index actually declined 6 points from March to April.