Consumer Confidence Continues To Slip With Record-Low Confidence On Purchasing A New Home
Economic sentiment fell for the third straight reading over the last two weeks, according to the HPS-CivicScience Economic Sentiment Index (ESI), dropping 0.8 points to 47.9. Job market confidence tempered its record-breaking surge while confidence in the housing market continued to sink, setting a new all-time low for the third straight reading with a decline of 3.3 points to 32.5. Confidence in the housing market has now fallen 18.7 points from its 2021 high.
Consumers continue to hold mixed feelings about the state of the U.S. economy and their personal financial positions. Despite the May jobs report showing the U.S. economy added 559,000 people to payrolls, wage growth data is still muddied and home prices continue to increase for a range of reasons. Confidence in the U.S. economy was the sole indicator to rise over the past two weeks, increasing 2.6 points to 52.0, far below its March high of 56.6. The rest of the indicators declined:
– Confidence in the housing market fell 3.3 points to 32.5, a record low.
– Consumer confidence in the job market fell 1.8 points to 58.7. It’s the first decline since April, but still 19.0 points higher than sentiment in January.
– Confidence in personal finances fell 0.8 points to 56.8.
– Confidence in making a major purchase sank 0.7 points to 39.3, its lowest level since May 2020.
The three-day moving average began on May 26 at 48.4. It rose to its peak of 50.1 on May 31, then steadily declined, closing at its low of 46.2 on June 8.
The next release of the ESI will be Wednesday, June 23, 2021.