Consumer Confidence On The Rise
August 30th, 2008 categories: Our Market
According to the Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index, U.S. confidence levels which had shown improvement in July, posted further gains in August. The index now stands at 56.9, up from 51.9 in July (1985=100). The Present Situation Index decreased slightly to 63.2 from 65.8 but the Expectations Index rose in August to 52.8 from 42.7 in July, almost a full percentage point.
The Consumer Confidence Survey is based on a representative sample of 5000 U.S. households. The monthly survey is conducted for The Conference Board by TNS, the world’s largest custom research company. Lynn Franco, Director of The Conference Board Comsumer Research Center said, “Consumer confidence readings suggest that the ecomony remains stuck in neutral, but may be showing signs of improvement by early next year. Declines in the Present Situation Index, both in terms of business conditions and the labor market, appear to be moderating. The Expections Index, which posted a significant gain this month, suggests better times may be ahead. However, overall readings are still quite low by historical standards and it is still too early to tell if the worst is behind us.”
Consumers assessment of current conditions were mixed with some claiming business conditions seem worse and some claiming they are improving. Most consumers appraisals as to job availability was constrained at the least although in some sectors, the sense was that jobs are becoming more plentiful. Short-term expectations of business conditions over the next six months improved and the outlook for the labor market was also less pessimistic. The percent of consumers anticipating fewer jobs in the months ahead decreased to 30.6 percent from 37.3 percent while those expecting more jobs rose to 10.5 percent from 8.0 percent. Consumers surveyed anticipated their incomes to increase improved as well by a slight margin of .4 percent.
Consumer confidence plays an important role in the overall health of our economy. These indicators may be a sign that our economy is poised for a rebound and at least point in a positive direction. It will take more than a gut feeling to get our economy moving again and we look forward to new national leadership that will focus on the task at hand.
