Rasmussen: Consumer Confidence Falls for Fourth Straight Day

Information obtained from www.rasmussenreports.com

Consumer confidence bounced up early last week around the time of Barack Obama’s inauguration as President, but the bounce has faded.

The Rasmussen Consumer Index, which measures the economic confidence of consumers on a daily basis, fell for the fourth straight day on Sunday. At 60.2, the Index is down a point from yesterday and little changed from a week ago. Consumer confidence continues to hover just a few points above the all-time lows set in mid-December.

The Rasmussen Investor Index also fell on Sunday, dropping a point-and-a-half to 65.5. The Investor Index is up four points from a week ago.

Eight percent (8%) of consumers rate the U.S. economy as good or excellent, a view shared by 7% of investors. Sixty-four percent (64%) of both consumers and investors say that the economy is in poor shape.

A related survey found that 48% of Americans believe that America’s best days are still to come while 35% say they have come and gone.

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Full month data for December shows confidence setting a record all-time low for the seventh time in the last ten months. The Discover U.S. Spending Monitor also fell to a record low in December. One-third (34 percent) of consumers plan to spend less in January. This compares to 22 percent in November and just 24 percent from a year ago.

The Rasmussen Consumer Index and Investor Index are derived from nightly telephone surveys of 500 adults and reported on a three-day rolling average basis. The baseline for the Index was established at 100.0 in October 2001. Readings above 100.0 indicate that confidence is higher than in the baseline month. Detailed supplemental information is available for Premium Members. Historical data for the Consumer and Investor indexes as well as attitudes about the economy and personal finances are also available to Premium Members.

The Rasmussen Consumer Index reached its highest level ever at 127.0 on January 6, 2004. The all-time low was reached on December 17, 2008 at 56.8.

The Rasmussen Investor Index reached its highest level ever at 150.9 on January 7, 2004. The lowest level ever measured was 58.5 on December 16, 2008.

The baseline for the Rasmussen Consumer Index was established at 100.0 in October 2001. At 60.2, the overall levels of economic confidence are significantly lower today than they were in the aftermath of the 9-11 terrorist attacks.

Rasmussen Reports is an electronic publishing firm specializing in the collection, publication, and distribution of public opinion polling information.

The Rasmussen Reports ElectionEdge™ Premium Service for Election 2008 offers the most comprehensive public opinion coverage ever provided for a Presidential election.
Scott Rasmussen, president of Rasmussen Reports, has been an independent pollster for more than a decade.

The current Index data is from a national telephone survey of 1,500 adults conducted by Rasmussen Reports over the past three nights. The margin of sampling error for each individual question in the survey is +/- 2.6 percentage points, with a 95% level of confidence. This survey is part of a larger series of data used to compile the Rasmussen Index on a daily basis. Sphere: Related Content