Consumer Confidence Holds Steady Amid Greek, Chinese Disruptions

Consumer confidence held steady over the last two weeks, decreasing by a modest 0.8 points from 49.1 to 48.3, according to the most recent data from the HPS-CivicScience Economic Sentiment Index (ESI). The lack of significant change comes during the disruptions the Greek crisis and Chinese stock market crash have caused in the global economy. However, looking within the index, confidence in making a major purchase dropped sharply from 52.1 to 48.4. This is the largest drop for this component of the index over the past 12 months, and the first significant change it’s seen since mid-February.

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The drop in confidence in making a major purchase was complemented by small decreases in consumer confidence in the labor market and in the U.S. economy overall. Confidence in the housing market experienced no change, and the only area which saw an increase was confidence in personal finances.

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The three-day moving average exhibited an overall increase over the two week period, peaking at 49.7 on Independence Day and ending at a modest 47.6.

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The next release of the ESI will be July 28.

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.