Employment Pickup

Labor Department data released on March 8 showed overall hiring jumped by 236,000 last month after 119,000 in January, and the unemployment rate fell to 7.7 percent, a four-year low. Together with a gain in average hourly earnings and a longer workweek, the latest figures bode well for consumer spending, which accounts for about 70 percent of the economy.

A report today indicated job gains will continue. The Conference Board’s Employment Trends Index increased 1.1 percent in February, the biggest advance in a year. The gauge aggregates eight labor-market indicators to forecast short-term hiring trends. On average, it can signal a rebound in hiring as little as three months before the fact and can predict job declines six to nine months in advance, according to the New York-based research group.

Americans also are benefiting from rising stock and home prices. Household wealth climbed in the fourth quarter to the highest level in five years, according to Fed data. At $66.1 trillion, net worth for households and non-profit groups is approaching its pre-recession peak of $67.4 trillion reached in 2007.

Big Plus

“It’s definitely a big plus for the economic outlook,” said Joe Carson, director of global economic research at AllianceBernstein LP in New York, who predicts net worth will climb to a record this quarter.

The S&P 500 index has advanced 8.8 percent since the beginning of 2013 to reach 1,551.18 on March 8, less than 1 percent from its record high reached in October 2007. Further gains are likely, and the stock gauge may climb to 1,600 later this year, said Allen Sinai, chief global economist at Decision Economics Inc. in New York.

The higher equity prices and improving job market are boosting consumer confidence. The Bloomberg Consumer Comfort Index, up for a fifth week, is at its highest level of the year, and the share of Americans with a positive view of the economy held at its strongest reading since early 2008.

Ski Vacation

Ann B. Lally, an Atlanta digital marketing consultant, said she’ll spend a “few thousand dollars” on a weeklong ski vacation to Deer Valley, Utah, later this month with her sister and mother.