Consumer Confidence In U.S. Labor Market Reaches Multiyear High

Consumer confidence increased 0.6 points to 53.8 over the past two weeks, according to the HPS-CivicScience Economic Sentiment Index (ESI). Elevated levels of confidence in the U.S. labor market drove the index’s overall upward movement. Since the launch of the ESI in 2013, it is the highest measured level of economic sentiment towards the labor market.

This is the also ESI’s highest level since the end of February 2018, when it reached 54.3 points.

Four of the ESI’s five indicators increased during the reading period. Consumer confidence in the U.S. labor market experienced the largest increase, rising 2.4 points to reach a record high of 50.5 points. Consumer sentiment towards the broader U.S. economy rose by 0.8 points to also reach 50.5 points, and sentiment towards personal finances rose by 0.3 points to 65.8 points. Additionally, consumer confidence towards the housing market increased slightly, moving up 0.2 points to 48.6 points. Consumer sentiment towards making a major purchase was the only indicator to decrease, dropping from 54.3 points to 53.9 points.

The large increase in consumer confidence in the labor market comes as the Labor Department reported that U.S. unemployment hit a 49-year low in September.

The three-day rolling average ended the observation period on a low note of 51.5 points, 4.7 points off its peak of 56.2 points on Monday, October 8.

The next release of the ESI will be on October 30, 2018.

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 (HPS) is an analytical public affairs consulting firm with offices in Washington, D.C. and San Francisco. We integrate substantive analysis with communications and believe a deep understanding of business and economics leads to more effective public engagement and better outcomes for our clients.

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.