Consumer Confidence At Lowest Point Since 2014
Consumer confidence fell slightly by 0.4 points from 48.8 to 48.4, according to the most recent data from the HPS-CivicScience Economic Sentiment Index (ESI). This reading is the index’s lowest level since December 2014 and marks the first consecutive biweekly drop since February 2015. A decrease in confidence in the national economy drove this overall decline.
Across the five components of the ESI, consumer confidence in the U.S. economy experienced the biggest drop in the last two weeks, falling by 2.4 points from 42.7 to 40.3. This decline places consumer confidence in the economy at its lowest point since October 2014. Consumer confidence also declined in personal finances and the labor market. However, these declines were slightly counterbalanced by increases in confidence in making major purchases and buying a new home.
The three day moving average experienced a general decline over the two weeks but increased at the end, landing at 49.
The next release of the ESI will be June 30.
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.