U.S. Economy Optimism is soaring due to vaccine rollouts 

Optimism over the U.S. economy rebound continues soaring, boosted by the coronavirus vaccine rollouts and stimulus checks. It seems the U.S. citizens and investors think that the worst is behind them.

Government aid has a lot to do with such sentiment. After President Joe Biden signed the $1.9-trillion stimulus into law on March 11, the checks of $1,400 per person began arriving. The accelerating vaccine rollout has also encouraged several states to ease coronavirus restrictions, bolstering last month’s 916,000 job gain.

The IBD/TIPP Economic Optimism Index, which is an early monthly read on consumer confidence, climbed up by one point to 56.4 in April, after rallying by 3.5 points in March. That was the fourth straight monthly gain, as well as the highest reading since early February 2020. Furthermore, IBD/TIPP’s direction of the country gauge soared by 1.4 points to 54.1, reaching the highest level since January 2004.

On the other hand, the IBD/TIPP Financial Related Stress Index tumbled down by 4.9 points to 56.8 in April, reaching its lowest level since the coronavirus lockdown in March 2020.

What about the Jobs recovery? 

Despite increasing optimism, the job recovery will require more time to return to the pre-pandemic levels. According to the IBD/TIPP Poll, 41% of households have at least one member who is without a job and looking for employment.

Another 35% are worried about job loss in the household, but that’s an improvement, showing a downtrend from 38%. Considering the overlap, the total share of job-sensitive households is 53% presently, down one point from March.

Meanwhile, investors turned more bullish about the American economy than they’ve been since April 2002. The IBD/TIPP Economic Optimism Index jumped by 1.6 points to 65 among the U.S. citizens, who own at least $10,000 in household-owned mutual funds or equities.

Noninvestors, especially those, who have borne more of the pandemic’s negative effects, are only just turning optimistic. Among them, the IBD/TIPP index climbed up by 1.3 points to 51.2. Still, that’s the highest consumer confidence reading among noninvestors since the first U.S. Covid cases were identified in February 2020.