Consumer Confidence Rebounds To Highest Level In Nearly Two Years

Consumer confidence rebounded significantly over the past two weeks, according to the HPS-CivicScience Economic Sentiment Index (ESI). Following last reading’s decline of 1.2 points, the ESI moved up by 2.5 points during this reading to reach 54.5, its highest level since February 2018’s reading of 55.6. The rebound was led by large increases in consumer confidence in making a major purchase and confidence toward the labor market.

Four of the ESI’s five indicators increased over the past two weeks. Consumer confidence in making a major purchase experienced the largest improvement, rising by 3.7 points to 57.4. Sentiment toward the labor and housing markets also jumped by similar amounts, moving up 3.5 and 3.3 points, respectively. Consumer confidence in the broader U.S. economy also improved, increasing by 2.5 points. Meanwhile, the only indicator to drop was confidence in personal finances, which declined by 0.6 points to 65.5.

The rebound comes on the heels of several positive economic signals, including the long-awaited signing of the U.S.-China phase one trade deal and a solid December jobs report that concluded 2019’s significant job growth of over 2.1 million jobs. Additionally, earnings season kicked off to a strong start, with several American banks reporting better-than-expected earnings.

The three-day rolling average started off the last two-week period on the upswing, rising from 50.7 on January 8 to a peak of 56.4 on January 11. The moving average then dropped a little before leveling out to end the reading period at 55.0.

The next release of the ESI will be on Tuesday, February 4, 2020.

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, and follow us on Twitter – @HPS_CS.

About Hamilton Place Strategies (HPS)

Hamilton Place Strategies (HPS) is an analytical public affairs consulting firm with offices in Washington, D.C. New York, and California. 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.