Consumer Confidence Remains Steady Heading Into The Second Half Of 2017
Consumer confidence improved slightly to start the second half of the year, rising 0.7 points to 51.2, according to the latest reading of the HPS-CivicScience Economic Sentiment Index (ESI). Increased confidence in personal finances and the broader U.S. economy drove the slight bump, which offset the 0.8 point drop over the previous two weeks. The ESI now rests just shy of its 2017 year average of 51.3 but remains above last year’s levels. This reading continues a three-month stretch where consumer confidence has remained relatively constant, not moving above 51.4 or below 50.5 since April 4.
Consumer confidence in personal finances and in the broader U.S. economy increased 2.0 points and 1.7 points to 64.6 and 47.4, respectively. Despite the 1.7 point increase in confidence in the broader U.S. economy, confidence has consistently remained below its record high of 53.2 in January.
Confidence in the housing market also increased, although only slightly, rising 0.5 points to 50.3. Confidence in the labor market and confidence in making a major purchase both declined slightly, falling to 42.7 and 51.2, respectively.
The ESI’s three-day moving average finished on an upswing, rising 2.0 points to hit 52.0 on the final day of the two-week reading period. The moving average started the reading period at its lowest levels, falling to its trough of 49.9 on the second day of the reading. During the reading, the moving average peaked at 52.3 on the July 4 holiday.
The next release of the ESI will be July 25, 2017.
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.