US consumer confidence increased in October by the most since March 2021 on optimism about the broader economy and the labor market.

The Conference Board’s gauge of confidence jumped 9.5 points to 108.7, the highest level since the start of the year, data released Tuesday showed. The median estimate in a Bloomberg survey of economists called for a reading of 99.5.

A measure of expectations for the next six months rose in October to 89.1, the highest since December 2021. A gauge of present conditions increased more than 14 points, the largest monthly advance since May 2021.

Even with the advance, the consumer confidence gauge remains well below pre-pandemic levels.

“Views on the current availability of jobs rebounded after several months of weakness, potentially reflecting better labor market data,” Dana Peterson, chief economist at the Conference Board, said in a statement.

The share of consumers that said jobs were currently plentiful rose 3.8 percentage points, the most since June 2021, to 35.1%. The share saying jobs were hard to get decreased to 16.8%.

The difference between these two — a metric closely followed by economists to gauge the job market — widened for the first time since January. 

The share of consumers who expect business conditions to improve increased to 21%, the largest since February 2022. At the same time, consumers’ assessments of their income prospects were unchanged from a month earlier.

In write-in responses for the survey, fewer consumers cited politics or the upcoming presidential election as a factor affecting their confidence in October, compared to the month leading up to the previous two presidential contests.

The proportion of consumers expecting a recession within the next year dropped to its lowest level since the question was first asked in July 2022, according to the Conference Board.

Moreover, the share of respondents anticipating their financial situation to improve in the next six months rose to the highest in data back more than two years.