American workers are increasingly optimistic about their options.

Why it matters: Employers are scrambling to find workers as demand for goods and services has been booming.

• Many workers are aware of this and they’re leveraging their advantage into pay raises or better opportunities elsewhere.
• Even unemployed workers with financial cushions are opting to sit on the sidelines as they await more competitive pay.

By the numbers: According to the Conference Board’s July Consumer Confidence report, the net percentage of consumers saying jobs are “plentiful” climbed to a 21-year high of 44.4%.

• That's derived from 54.9% saying jobs are “plentiful,” less a mere 10.5% that view jobs as “hard to get.”

State of play: All of this is occurring as U.S. employment remains about 6.7 million jobs below pre-pandemic levels.

• To be clear, there are many who would like to work but are sitting out because of issues like virus concerns and child care.

What they’re saying: Importantly, the shortfall in U.S. employment is not for lack of demand.

• “This points to a rapid turnaround in the labor market and suggests further declines in the unemployment rate in the months ahead,” Renaissance Macro Research economist Neil Dutta said of the Conference Board’s data.

What to watch: Wells Fargo senior economist Tim Quinlan says to keep an eye on the next few Consumer Confidence reports to see if this labor trend continues.

• “As additional jobless benefits expire and kids return to school in coming months, these measures will offer early clues about how healthy job growth will be in the autumn months,” he writes.

The bottom line: Workers have a lot of leverage, perhaps even more so than they realize. They may want to take advantage of it while it lasts.