Consumer Confidence Stabilizes As Summer Begins
Consumer confidence ticked up over the last two-week period, rising from 49.1 to 49.8, according to the most recent data from the HPS-Civic Science Economic Sentiment Index (ESI). This 0.7 point rise comes after lackluster reports for retail spending through April. After starting the year with a 4.5 point slide from a high of 53.3 to a low of 48.8, the ESI seems to have stabilized, resting between 48.8 and 50 points for seven most recent two-week periods.
Consumer confidence rose in four of the five components of the ESI over the two-week period. Confidence in making a major purchase and confidence in the U.S. economy saw significant increases with confidence in making a major purchase jumping 1.9 points to 52.3. Confidence in finding a job was the only component to decrease, falling a moderate 0.4 points from 39.1 to 38.7.
The three-day moving average saw high fluctuations, reaching a high of 51 before ending on a downward slide to 48.4 points.
The next release of the ESI will be June 2.
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.