Consumer Confidence Rises For The First Time Since Stock Market Drop
Consumer confidence rose to its highest level in over a month, according to the HPS-CivicScience Economic Sentiment Index (ESI). The index improved to 47.6 in the past two weeks, an increase of 0.6 points since the last reading. A number of signs indicate that consumer sentiment concerning the economy is trending in the right direction. The three-day rolling average has risen more than two points since September 15, during which time the Federal Reserve announced it would maintain the current level of interest rates, while four of the index’s five components increased over the course of the two-week period.
Consumer confidence in the labor market, making a major purchase, and the housing market all rose in the past two weeks. Of note, confidence in the U.S. economy rose sharply, gaining nearly two points, from 39.2 to 41.1. Sentiment regarding personal finances was the only component of the index to decline over the course of the reading, dropping 3.1 points.
The three-day rolling average experienced a tumultuous ride over the last two weeks, but ultimately recovered the losses it suffered between September 10 and September 15. Since reaching its low-point, the consumer confidence has risen more than two points to 48.2 in recent days.
The next release of the ESI will be October 6.
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.
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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.