Consumer Confidence Slips, Driven By Decline In Confidence In Personal Finances

Consumer confidence slipped slightly over the past two weeks, according to the HPS-CivicScience Economic Sentiment Index (ESI). The 0.4-point drop to 51.1 in the first half of March reverses the ESI’s modest recovery throughout 2019 so far.

Three out of the ESI’s five indicators increased during the reading. The only indicator to increase significantly was consumer confidence in the broader U.S. economy, which moved up by 0.6 to hit 48.0 points. Economic sentiment toward the housing and labor markets each ticked up by a mere 0.1 to reach 47.8 and 45.1 points, respectively. Meanwhile, the largest change in any indicator was a decline in consumer confidence in personal finances, which decreased by 2.0 points to a reading of 62.4. Economic sentiment toward making a major purchase also fell, dropping from 53.2 to 52.1 points.

The three-day rolling average ended the reading period on a low note. Beginning at a high of 54.0 on March 6, the rolling average dropped to 50.4 on March 9 before increasing to 52.5 on March 15. The moving average subsequently reversed course again, dropping down to its low point of 49.7 on March 19 before ending the reading period at 49.9 on March 19.

The next release of the ESI will be on Tuesday, April 2, 2019.

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.ts 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.