For the first time since November, consumers’ economic mood seems to be brightening. 

The Conference Board’s consumer confidence index for May came in on the lower end of the recent range, but notched its highest monthly increase in four years.

The rebound was especially strong after the U.S. and China reached a temporary deal to lower mutual tariffs. 

That deal has consumers feeling less pessimistic about where the economy is headed, and maybe a little less anxious about spending. 

Back in April, consumer confidence dipped to a five year low on the prospect of a trade war with basically the entire planet. 

“There was this very surprising shock and people were very stressed,” said Francesco D’Acunto, an economist at Georgetown University.

But as threats of the steepest tariffs deescalated, so did our collective anxiety. 

“A large portion of households now believe that those announcements were an exaggeration,” said D’Acunto.  

D’Acunto said this month’s rebound shows just how sensitive our economic mood is to abrupt policy changes. 

Take consumer spending plans. In April, people said they were inclined to pull back on extras like traveling and dining out. But after the pause on steep China tariffs May 12, survey respondents said they had room in their budgets.  

“I think it’s encouraging because it means consumers aren’t growing more and more pessimistic,” said Shannon Grein, an economist at Wells Fargo.

Still, Grein said our spending intentions don’t always pan out. 

“If we actually start to see tariffs bite in the form of higher inflation, I do think that will influence confidence and weigh on it again,” said Grein.

But this report does say something about how consumers have already changed. 

Dana Peterson, chief economist with the Conference Board, said wealthier consumers are hedging. 

“Those people making over $125,000, they’re the ones who put money aside for future expenses. Why? Because they have it,” said Peterson.

Meanwhile lower income consumers were more likely to say they dipped into savings recently. 

“And so that worries us in terms of seeing, you know, another surge in credit use,” said Peterson.

It’s an early look, she says, at which consumers are most vulnerable to the president’s trade policy.