ESI: Consumer Confidence Slumps To 2021 Low Amid Spending Reluctance
Economic sentiment fell to its lowest point so far in 2021, as the HPS-CivicScience Economic Sentiment Index (ESI) dropped 2.8 points to 45.0. Amidst a surge in inflation worries, confidence in making a major purchase and confidence in the housing market drove a significant decline.
After briefly reversing in the last reading, the months-long divergence between confidence in big-ticket purchase indicators and confidence in finding a new job once again entrenched itself over the past two weeks. Confidence in making a major purchase dropped 6.2 points to 33.0, the biggest single decline since the March 31, 2020 reading, while confidence in the housing market dropped 3.9 points to 29.0. Confidence in finding a job was the only indicator to rise over the past two weeks: It jumped 1.1 points to 59.5. Consumers reported record complaints about inflation on big ticket purchases, while the average home loan reached a new record high of $392,370. The other indicators to fall were:
– Confidence in personal finances dropped 2.6 points to 57.5.
– Confidence in the overall U.S. economy dropped 2.5 points to 45.9
The three-day moving average began on July 7 at its high of 47.9, dropping gradually to its low of 43.4 on July 19 before closing out the week at 43.7 on July 20.
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.