Reports show regional consumer attitudes declining
by October 10, 2011 9:37 am 58 views
An Index of Consumer Sentiment (ICS) recently released by the University of Arkansas at Fort Smith supports the consumer mood findings of The Consumer Compass Report released Sept. 19.
The ICS for the Fort Smith region during September was 54.2, down 2% from the second quarter result of 55.3.
“While one can point to areas of improvement in our economy since the June survey, consumers clearly didn’t see it that way. These results reflect a new low in sentiment for area consumers, and that’s not something to be particularly pleased about,” noted Dr. Kermit Kuehn, with UAFS, in the statement.
An ICS index measuring consumer sentiment about current economic conditions decreased to 54.7 from 55.1. The ICS index measuring consumer sentiment about future economic conditions was down 2.9% from last quarter, recording a 53.9.
However, 59% of consumers indicated they intended to spend more this holiday season than last, with 40% intending to spend about the same as last year. The results were almost identical to the September 2010 survey.
"Frankly, I was surprised by these results, especially in light of the negative sentiment recorded overall this quarter for regional consumers," Kuehn said.
The Consumer Compass Report, a component of The Compass Report presented by Benefit Bank, found that only 11% of survey respondents said in a Sept. 8 survey that their personal financial situation was better than a year ago. It was the lowest reading of the five fiscal quarters in which the survey has been conducted.
The Compass survey found that 44% describe their financial situation as worse than one year ago. Conversely, 38% think their financial positions will be worse in the next year with only 12% saying it will be better.
“These two questions, when comparing the most recent quarter to last quarter and to last year’s same quarter, are basically unchanged. In other words, there remains weak hope for personal financial improvement and it has been that way for the last year,” noted analysis in The Consumer Compass Report.
From last quarter to this quarter, there was a 10% increase (52% to 62%) in the number of respondents who think the U.S. economy will worsen in the next year. This makes the effort to restore consumer confidence even more daunting of a task as the needle to move towards more optimism heads in the wrong direction.