Despite ongoing economic impacts surrounding the U.S. and Iran war, monthly consumer confidence as surveyed by the nonprofit Conference Board ticked up in March 2026.
The survey, with results collected between March 1-24 (entirely during the Iran war), found that consumer confidence ticked up to 91.8 in March, up from the revised February findings of 91. The index baseline of 100 is based on conditions from 1985.
“A modest improvement in consumers’ views of current conditions outweighed a slight downshift in expectations for the future,” said Conference Board Chief Economist Dana M. Peterson in a statement. “Overall confidence improved modestly for a second month. Nonetheless, the Index has been on a general downward trend since 2021.”
In contrast, the consumer sentiment index maintained by the University of Michigan saw a notable decline as of March. However, the full findings of the consumer confidence index indicate consumers are hardly dismissive of aforementioned economic concerns and resulting rising costs.
The survey’s present situations index increased by 4.6 points to 123.3, whereas the expectations index declined by 1.7 points to 70.9. This indicates that surveyed consumers are more optimistic about the current state of the business and labor market and their incomes than they are about the short-term outlook for those. Accordingly, the survey also found signs of consumers being cautious about spending—in particular, home-buying expectations declined on a six-month basis for both new and existing units.
Consumers’ 12-month inflation expectations rose notably in March, comparable to levels last seen in August 2025. The report attributes this both to rising oil prices from the Iran War as well as product cost increases due to tariffs. The number of consumers who expect interest rates to rise over the next 12 months saw a substantial climb from 34.9% to 42.4%.
Components of the present situations index assessing net view of current business conditions and employment conditions improved slightly. On the expectations index, only expected business conditions showed improvement (though remained pessimistic overall), while expectations for the labor market and household income went down.
Demographics-wise, consumers under the age of 35 showed the most optimism. Confidence of consumers aged 35-54 moderated, while responding consumers over the age of 55 were the least confident. By income, consumers either between $25,000-$34,999 or $125,000-plus were the only ones showing slightly higher optimism. Across political affiliation, Republicans remained the most optimistic, followed by independents and then Democrats.
For the full Consumer Confidence index, click here.
