Falling gasoline prices and an improving job outlook prodded U.S. consumer confidence levels to surge in November, the U.S. Conference Board said today.

The Conference Board said its index of consumer confidence for November improved strongly to a reading of 98.9, from October’s revised 85.2. The November reading was above the 90 forecast by economists, and it the highest reading since August.

“A decline of more than 40¢ in gasoline prices this month and the improving job outlook have combined to help restore consumers’ confidence,” said Lynn Franco, who directs the survey for the Confidence Board.

There were small gains in consumers who deemed the economy “good,” which rose to 25.5% of the survey, from 23.3% who said the same thing a month ago. Those who consider current economic circumstances “bad” slipped to 17.3% of respondents in November, versus 18.4% in October.

The group also reported that its present situation index, which aims to describe how consumer feel about their current lot, stood at 114.0, from October’s revised 107.8. Meanwhile, the forward looking expectations index moved to a reading of 88.8, from the prior month’s 70.1.

The Conference Board found in its survey that assessments of the labor market were more favorable in November. While those who saw jobs as “plentiful” held steady at 20.8% of those surveyed, respondents calling jobs “hard to get” fell to 23.2% in November, from 25.3% last month. The report found the outlook for jobs held by consumers also improved.

Meanwhile, sales of U.S. single-family homes surged 13% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.424 million, the Commerce Department said today. That’s the largest gain since sales grew 16.4% in April 1993.
Economists had expected sales to fall by 0.3%. September sales rose an upwardly revised 0.9%.

The jump came in the face of higher mortgage rates and evidence that the housing market is slowing. The National Association of Realtors reported Monday that sales of existing homes fell 2.7% in October.

The median price of a new home climbed to US$231,300 from a revised $227,700 in September.

Also today, the Commerce Department said durable-goods orders rose 3.4% last month to a seasonally adjusted US$214.39 billion after falling a revised 2% in September. Economists had forecast durable goods orders would advance 1.5%.

Orders for non-defense capital goods excluding aircraft, considering a good indicator of business investment, increased 1.3% during October after dropping 1.7% the previous month. Durable-goods inventories increased 0.4% in October. Unfilled orders rose by 1.5%, while shipments climbed 1.4%.