U.S. Consumer Confidence Rebounds, Inflation Expectations Surge

BlockBeats News, March 31st: The Conference Board's Consumer Confidence Index in the United States rose slightly by 0.8 points to 91.8 in March, up from 91.0 in February. The Present Situation Index, based on consumers' assessment of current business and labor market conditions, rose by 4.6 points to 123.3. The Expectations Index fell by 1.7 points to 70.9. The upward pressure on costs from tariff pass-through and surging oil prices has been reflected in other indicators such as inflation expectations.

“Consumer confidence edged up slightly again in March, primarily due to an improvement in perceptions of current conditions offsetting a slight weakening in future expectations,” said Dana M. Peterson, Chief Economist of the Conference Board. “Three out of five sub-indexes improved in March, resulting in an overall modest increase in confidence for the second consecutive month. However, since 2021, the index has shown an overall downward trend.” The data also shows that against the backdrop of the Iran war-induced oil price shock, consumers' average and median expectations for inflation in the next 12 months surged in March to the highest level since August 2025. The net percentage of consumers expecting interest rates to rise in the next 12 months jumped from 34.9% to 42.4% (FXStreet).