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.
Excerpt From the Latest Reading:
Consumer confidence in the U.S. economy fell by 4.7 points, the largest drop this year, according to the HPS-Civic Science Economic Sentiment Index (ESI). Overall consumer confidence fell by 1.0 point to reach a reading of 52.4. After rising steadily in January to hit a peak reading 55.6 at the beginning of February, the ESI has declined steadily, falling 3.2 points. Despite the general drop in consumer confidence this year, economic sentiment remains slightly above last year’s levels.
The large decline in confidence in the U.S. economy comes amid escalating trade tensions between the U.S. and Canada. Following President Trump’s imposition of tariffs on Canada and Europe on May 31st, Canada announced retaliatory tariffs on June 9th. On the same day, the ESI’s three-day moving average hit its lowest level with a reading of 51.6.
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