ESI Makes Steady Gains Throughout September
Consumer confidence continued its steady recovery from its August low of 46.3, according to the HPS-CivicScience Economic Sentiment Index (ESI). The index climbed to 46.8, rising 0.3 points from its September 6 reading of 46.5. This increase brings the ESI’s 2016 average to 46.9 through the year’s first three quarters.
Among the index’s five indicators, consumer confidence in the labor market increased the most during the reading, jumping 1.5 points to 37.8, its highest level since March 22. Confidence in personal finances and in the housing market also rose by 1.0 and 0.3 points to 58.3 and 53.6, respectively. Economic sentiment regarding the broader U.S. Economy declined by 1.0 point, falling to 38.3. Confidence in making a major purchase also fell, dropping 0.5 points to 46.1, its lowest reading in over a year.
The ESI’s three-day rolling average remained fairly steady during the two-week reading. While the moving average increased nearly 3.0 points during the middle of the reading, reaching its peak of 48.6 on Saturday, September 17, it rapidly dropped the following day, falling 2.7 points to 45.9 on Sunday, September 18. The rolling average ended the reading at 46.0, 0.6 points below its starting point at the beginning of the two-week period.
The next release of the ESI will be October 4.
About the Index
The HPS-CivicScience Economic Sentiment Index (“ESI”) is a “living” index that measures U.S. adults’ expectations for the economy going forward, as well as their feelings about current conditions for major purchases. The primary goal of the Index is to accurately measure movements in overall national economic sentiment, and to provide a more sophisticated alternative to existing economic sentiment indices. Unlike other prominent indices that release consumer sentiment estimates infrequently, the HPS-CivicScience Index is updated in real time as responses are collected continuously every hour, every day. Large-scale cross-tabulation of survey responses and consumer attributes enable more granular analyses than are currently possible through prevailing measures.
For a more detailed overview of the Index and the underlying methodology, please request a white paper.
About Hamilton Place Strategies (HPS)
Hamilton Place Strategies is a policy, advocacy, and communications consulting firm with a focus and expertise at the intersection of government, business, and media.
For more information, visit Hamilton Place Strategies by clicking here and follow them on Twitter – @HPSInsight.
About CivicScience
CivicScience, Inc. provides the leading intelligent polling and real-time consumer insights platform, the InsightStore™. Its proprietary platform powers the world’s opinions and quickly gets that data to the decision makers who care. Every day, CivicScience polls ask millions of people questions related to thousands of topics, while its powerful data science and big data technology analyzes current consumer opinions, discovers trends as they start, and accurately predicts future behaviors and market outcomes. CivicScience polls run on hundreds of premier websites, in addition to its own public polling site at www.civicscience.com. CivicScience’s InsightStore™ is used by leading enterprises in marketing research, advertising, media, financial services, and political polling. For more information, visit CivicScience by clicking here and follow them on Twitter – @CivicScience.