Confidence In The Job Market Swells To A Record-High Level
Economic sentiment ended its month-long slump, rising 1.3 points to 50.6 over the past two weeks, according to the HPS-CivicScience Economic Sentiment Index (ESI). Confidence in the job market boosted overall confidence as it continued its meteoric rise, increasing 4.2 points to 54.9—the highest level in the ESI’s history.
With over half of the U.S. population having received at least one vaccine shot, jobless claims reaching a pandemic low of only 547,000 last Thursday, and COVID-19 infection rates holding steady, consumers displayed a rising level of confidence over the past two weeks. In addition to record-setting job confidence, faith in the overall economy rose 2.2 points to 53.3. The other indicators were more mixed:
– Confidence in personal finances rose 3.6 points to 58.8, its second highest reading during the pandemic.
– Confidence in the tight housing market continued to drop, falling 2.4 points to 41.5, its lowest level in over a year.
– Consumers’ confidence in making a major purchase fell slightly from its previous six-month high, declining one point to 44.5.
The moving average began on April 14 at 49.5 and dropped to its low on April 21 at 48.0. It then shot upwards, peaking on April 24 at 53.0 before declining slightly and closing the reading on April 27 at 51.9.
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 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.