Consumer Confidence Surging As Year Ends
Consumer confidence continues to surge as 2014 winds to a close, jumping 2.5 points to 52.9 during the past two weeks, according to the latest data from the HPS-CivicScience Economic Sentiment Index. With strong jobs and GDP reports, declining oil prices, and the Dow closing above 18,000, consumer confidence has turned optimistic with confidence remaining above the 50-point threshold for the month of December. Further, confidence in the labor market spiked 4.3 points, which is the largest increase in the past 12-months. In total, the ESI jumped 5.3 points to 52.9 during the past month and is more than seven points higher than it was at this time last year.
Looking across the components of the ESI, consumer confidence in personal finances, making a major purchase, the labor market, and the national economy rose to 2014 highs. Additionally, with a 7.3 point jump in the past month, confidence in the U.S. economy remains near confidence in making a major purchase, which was not the case throughout the majority of 2014. Meanwhile, confidence in the housing market increased slightly to reach a new high for the year. Overall, all five components of the index reflect a more confident consumer going into 2015.
The three-day moving average remained above 50 during the entire two-week period and began its sharp climb on December 24th.
We wish everyone a Happy New Year. The next release of the ESI will be January 13.
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.