Consumer Confidence Continues Its Overall Decline
Consumer confidence decreased over the last two weeks by 0.9 points from 49.1 to 48.2, according to the most recent data from the HPS-CivicScience Economic Sentiment Index (ESI). The decline was driven primarily by a drop in confidence in the U.S. economy and in the labor market, a surprising finding despite consistent job growth in recent months. Consumer confidence is now at its lowest recorded point in 2015.
Across the five components of the index, confidence in the U.S. economy saw the largest decline, dropping a full 1.5 points over the last two weeks. Sizable drops were also recorded for confidence in the U.S. housing and labor markets. Additionally, consumer confidence in personal finances experienced a modest decline of 0.9 points over the last several weeks. However, one bright spot was recorded; confidence in making a major purchase increased by 0.5 points from 49.7 to 50.2.
The three-day moving average fluctuated over the course of the two week period, peaking at 48.9 and ending the cycle at 47.6.
The next release of the ESI will be August 25.
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.