Arvest Survey: Arkansas Consumers Not Confident in Economy
by July 17, 2014 9:00 am 105 views
Consumer sentiment in Arkansas is below that of its neighbors, Oklahoma and Missouri, and 15.1 points below that of the nation, according to the inaugural Consumer Sentiment Survey commissioned by Arvest Bank.
The survey shows Arkansas has a consumer sentiment index of 67.4, trailing Missouri at 68.6, Oklahoma at 76.4 and the nation at 82.5. The three-state index of Arkansas, Oklahoma and Missouri is 71.4.
Kathy Deck, the director of the Center for Business and Economic Research at the University of Arkansas, and lead economist for the survey, evaluated the results.
“We are excited to have our first measures of statewide and regional consumer confidence from the Arvest Consumer Sentiment Survey,” Deck said. “Our initial readings indicate that consumers in the region, and especially in Arkansas, are quite leery about overall economic conditions in the near future, although they reported being relatively upbeat about their current financial status.”
Arvest-sponsored survey is a joint project of the University of Arkansas, The University of Oklahoma, Missouri State University and Oklahoma City University. A total of 1,200 people — 400 in each state — were surveyed by phone. The margin of error is estimated at 4.2 percent. The survey poses questions about finances, interest rates, government expectations, vehicles, homes and durable goods, among others.
“These new consumer sentiment data indicate that Arkansas can expect continued on-again, off-again growth,” Deck said. “Until consumers indicate that they feel confident about their economic futures, personal income growth will be the key to additional spending and a breakout recovery.”
While the index released today measures consumer sentiment, a second data set, scheduled to be released in August, will measure expectations for the future. A third data set, also going public in August, will examine savings and spending intent.
The Arvest survey uses the same questionnaire and methodology as the national Surveys of Consumers conducted by the University of Michigan and Thomson/Reuters. Two surveys will be conducted each year, one in the spring and one in the fall, with results being released in the summer and winter.