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 dropped 1.4 points to 52.9, its lowest level in 2018 so far, according to the HPS-CivicScience Economic Sentiment Index (ESI). This is the ESI’s second consecutive reading with a decline, following the previous reading’s drop of 1.3 points, from 55.6 to 54.3 on Tuesday, February 20.
Plunging confidence in the broader U.S. economy fueled the index’s overall decline, as that indicator dropped by 3.4 points to 49.6.
In total, four of the ESI’s five indicators dropped during the reading. In addition to the steep plunge in economic sentiment toward the broader U.S. economy, economic sentiment toward the labor market fell by 2.1 points to 47.1, its lowest reading during 2018. Confidence in personal finances dropped 1.3 points, falling to 65.7, while confidence in making a major purchase slipped by 0.4 points to 52.8.
Consumer confidence in the housing market was the only indicator to rise, increasing 0.2 points to 49.2.
Check out the full reading.
