Americans’ ratings of the national economy rose sharply in the past two weeks, lifting the overall Consumer Comfort Index to a new pandemic high as the country gradually reopens from its year-long quarantine.  

The weekly index hit a one-year peak of 50.0 on its 0-100 scale, its best since last March, when the CCI began its pandemic-spurred freefall. That narrowly surpasses its previous pandemic high, 49.8, reached twice last fall.  

There’s still substantial room for growth. In a slow, often halting recovery, the index has recouped 15.3 points since bottoming out last May, just more than half of its total pandemic losses. It’s still a distant 13.0 points from its pre-pandemic level and 17.3 points below its two-decade peak early last year.

The index’s recent advance is driven largely by improvements in Americans’ ratings of the national economy, up 3.1 points in two weeks to 43.4, its best since April 2020. Among groups, positive ratings of the national economy are up especially sharply among Northeasterners (+15.4 points) and Americans with post-graduate degrees (+13.0 points), while essentially flat among their counterparts. See the latest narrative report, charts and tables here.