WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — Consumers are growing more upbeat about the U.S. labor market, with confidence reaching the highest levels since around the start of the Great Recession, according to a report released Tuesday.

“The number of consumers reporting that labor conditions were bad has now declined for three months in a row, a reflection of the continued robust pace of job growth and the addition of more full-time jobs this year,” wrote analysts with Wells Fargo Securities.

Economists derive a statistic from the Conference Board’s monthly report on consumer confidence to get a feeling for how good respondents feel about current employment conditions. Analysts subtract the share of consumers who said that jobs are “hard to get” from those who said they’re “plentiful.”

For June this measurement hit negative 4.3%, an improvement from negative 6.6% in May. These results show that there’s still some concern about the labor market.

However, readings this year have been the strongest since around the start of the recession, which officially began at the end of 2007.

“This question matches up well over time with actual labor market conditions, so this improvement was consistent with the strong May employment report and positive results again in June,” according to a Morgan Stanley research note.

Here are a few likely factors behind perkier U.S. workers and consumers.

The labor market is strengthening: Average monthly job growth over the year through May was 255,000 spots, compared with 208,000 a year earlier.

Wage growth is starting to pick up. Read more: Faster job gains are great but bigger paychecks still await

Job openings hit a record high in April, with data signaling that employers are having trouble filling spots and holding onto workers.

Later this week the government will publish its widely followed snapshot of the U.S. labor market. Economists polled by MarketWatch expect to see that employers slowed hiring this month, but still expanded payrolls at a healthy pace.

A stronger labor market should boost consumer confidence, translating into more household spending. That loop, economists hope, will then further add to job growth.

“Confidence appears to be regaining momentum again,” said Jim O’Sullivan, chief U.S. economist with High Frequency Economics. “The improving labor market appears to be a key factor.”