Consumer Confidence Remains Flat, Labor Market Sentiment Reaches New Heights

Consumer confidence remained relatively flat over the past two weeks, falling 0.2 points to 53.6 according to the HPS-CivicScience Economic Sentiment Index (ESI). Confidence in the U.S. labor market continued to climb to new heights, while other categories declined.

Consumer confidence in making a major purchase experienced the largest decrease, falling 1.3 points to reach 52.6, its lowest level since September. Consumer sentiment towards personal finances fell by 0.3 points to reach 65.5 points, which was counterbalanced by a 0.6 point increase in sentiment towards the labor market, which reached another record high of 51.1 points.

Confidence in the U.S. economy also fell 0.5 points to hit a level of 50.0 points, reversing most of the gains made during the previous reading period. Additionally, consumer confidence towards the housing market increased slightly, moving up 0.1 points to 48.7 points.

The U.S. unemployment rate also continued to decline, reaching a 49-year low according to the most recent jobs report. Meanwhile, economic growth has exceeded 3 percent the last two consecutive quarters.

The three-day rolling average ended the observation period at a reading of 54.1, 0.7 points off its high of 54.8 points on Tuesday, October 23.

The next release of the ESI will be on Tuesday, November 13, 2018.

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 (HPS) is an analytical public affairs consulting firm with offices in Washington, D.C. and San Francisco. 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.