Higher conversion rates would be a "bullish signal that should bode very well for the industry," Upton agreed.
Even so, the job market "remains far from normal," and it isn't clear whether recent improvements "will be sustained," Bernanke said in Arlington. One interpretation of hiring growth is that it "represents a catch-up from outsized job losses during and just after the recession," he said. "To the extent that this reversal has been completed, further significant improvements in the unemployment rate will likely require a more-rapid expansion of production and demand from consumers and businesses."
Long Way To Go
Though there's still a long way to go to prerecession levels -- the U.S. has lost about 5.3 million jobs since nonfarm payroll employment peaked in January 2008 -- "the economy has definitely gotten past that weakness we had in the middle of 2011," Faucher said.
Gross domestic product will expand 2.2 percent this year, according to the median estimate of 70 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News from March 9 to March 13. That's up from 1.7 percent in 2011 and is "conducive" to an industry that's already looking "very solid," Steinerman said.
Even though the initial acceleration has been lighter than previous recoveries, Kelly has seen a "small" rebound in demand since Christmas, Camden said.
"All of the dominoes are falling in the correct order, but they're just taking longer to fall," he said.