Consumer Confidence Springs Back
March 27, 2001
The Consumer Confidence Index rebounded in March after declining for
five consecutive months, The Conference Board reports today. The Index
now stands at 117.0 (1985=100), up from a revised 109.2 in February. The
Expectations Index increased from 70.7 to 83.6. The Present Situation
Index rose from 167.1 to 167.2.
The Consumer Confidence Survey, the country’s most comprehensive
survey of consumer attitudes, is based on a representative sample of
5,000 U.S. households. The monthly survey is conducted for The
Conference Board by NFO WorldGroup, a member of The Interpublic Group of
Companies (NYSE: IPG).
"The rebound in consumer confidence was triggered by an improvement
in the economic outlook for the next six months and employment
prospects," says Lynn Franco, Director of The Conference Board’s
Consumer Research Center. "The recent weakness in the stock market has
done little to dampen either consumers’ assessment of present economic
conditions or future expectations."
Consumer expectations are substantially more optimistic than in
February. Consumers expecting an improvement in business conditions
increased from 11.3 percent in February to 15.4 percent in March. Those
anticipating conditions to worsen decreased from 17.6 percent to 13.6
percent. The employment outlook was also more favorable. Currently, 12.2
percent of consumers expect more jobs to become available, up from 10.8
percent last month. Those expecting fewer jobs to become available
declined from 26.5 percent to 20.1 percent. Income expectations,
however, did not improve. Only 23.2 percent of consumers look for their
paychecks to improve, down from 23.9 percent in February.
Consumers’ assessment of ongoing business conditions is more positive
now than in February. The percentage of consumers who rate current
business conditions as "good" rose from 31.6 percent to 32.9 percent.
Those rating conditions as "bad" increased from 10.6 percent to 10.8
percent. Consumers claiming jobs are "hard to get" rose from 12.4
percent to 12.7 percent. Those reporting jobs are plentiful increased
from 43.3 percent to 43.7 percent.
Source: March 2001 Consumer Confidence/The Conference Board
See related Conference Board Products and Services in
Copyright © 2001 The
Conference Board Inc. All rights reserved.
The Conference Board
and torch logo are registered trademarks of The Conference Board
Inc.
|
