Economic sentiment declined slightly over the past two weeks, following four straight weeks of improvement. The HPS-CivicScience Economic Sentiment Index (ESI) fell 1.0 point to 33.1, largely driven by decreases in confidence in personal finances and in finding a new job.
All but one of ESI’s five indicators decreased over the past two weeks. Confidence in personal finances fell the most, decreasing 2.0 points to 49.5, followed by confidence in finding a new job, which fell 1.8 points to 43.5.
- Confidence in the overall U.S. economy fell 1.1 points to 32.5.
- Confidence in buying a new home fell 1.1 points to 20.1.
- Confidence in making a major purchase rose 1.0 point to 20.0.