Consumer Confidence Continues Its 2019 Recovery

Consumer confidence recovered for the second week in a row, according to the HPS-CivicScience Economic Sentiment Index (ESI). The ESI rose 1.4 points, as it continues to trend upwards in 2019 after dropping almost 5 points in December.

Four out of five of the ESI’s indicators increased during the reading period. The largest increase was consumer confidence in making a major purchase, which rose by 4.8 points to a reading of 51.9. The second largest rise was confidence in the broader economy, which went up by 2.0 points to 46.9. Despite renewed confidence in the broader economy and making a major purchase, economic sentiment toward personal finances fell by 1.4 points to 64.9. Economic sentiment toward the housing and labor markets also rose slightly, increasing by 0.8 and 0.5 points, respectively.

The recovery in the ESI this winter seems to be driven by an easing of the political and economic uncertainty that plagued December. On Friday, February 15, lawmakers reached an agreement on keeping the federal government open, the Federal Reserve has indicated it will slowly raise interest rates, and economic data has generally been strong.

However, Brexit, trade tensions, and possible economic overheating still remain as 2019 progresses.

The three-day rolling average remained relatively flat during the reading period, beginning with a reading of 50.9 and ending the period with a reading of 51.0 – while reaching its peak of 52.7 on February 9.

The next release of the ESI will be on Tuesday, March 5, 2019.

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.ts 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.