NEW YORK, Sept. 24, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- The
Conference Board Consumer Confidence
Index® decreased in September, following a
slight decline in August. The Index now stands at 125.1 (1985=100),
down from 134.2 in August. The Present Situation Index – based on
consumers' assessment of current business and labor market
conditions – decreased from 176.0 to 169.0. The Expectations Index
– based on consumers' short-term outlook for income, business and
labor market conditions – declined from 106.4 last month to 95.8
this month.
"Consumer confidence declined in September, following a moderate
decrease in August," said Lynn
Franco, Senior Director of Economic Indicators at The
Conference Board. "Consumers were less positive in their assessment
of current conditions and their expectations regarding the
short-term outlook also weakened. The escalation in trade and
tariff tensions in late August appears to have rattled consumers.
However, this pattern of uncertainty and volatility has persisted
for much of the year and it appears confidence is plateauing. While
confidence could continue hovering around current levels for months
to come, at some point this continued uncertainty will begin to
diminish consumers' confidence in the
expansion."
The monthly Consumer Confidence
Survey®, based on a probability-design random
sample, is conducted for The Conference Board by Nielsen, a leading
global provider of information and analytics around what consumers
buy and watch. The cutoff date for the preliminary results was
September 13.
Consumers' appraisal of current-day conditions was somewhat less
favorable in September. Those claiming business conditions are
"good" decreased from 40.9 percent to 37.3 percent, while those
saying business conditions are "bad" increased from 9.9 percent to
12.7 percent. Consumers' assessment of the job market was also less
favorable. Those saying jobs are "plentiful" decreased from 50.3
percent to 44.8 percent, while those claiming jobs are "hard to
get" declined slightly from 12.0 percent to 11.6 percent.
Consumers were less optimistic about the short-term outlook in
September. The percentage of consumers expecting business
conditions will be better six months from now decreased from 21.6
percent to 19.0 percent, while those expecting business conditions
will worsen increased from 10.2 percent to 14.3 percent.
Consumers' outlook for the labor market was also less upbeat.
The proportion expecting more jobs in the months ahead decreased
from 19.9 percent to 17.5 percent, while those anticipating fewer
jobs increased from 13.7 percent to 15.7 percent. Regarding their
short-term income prospects, the percentage of consumers expecting
an improvement decreased from 24.7 percent to 19.0 percent, however
the proportion expecting a decrease also declined, from 6.3 percent
to 5.6 percent.
Source: September 2019
Consumer Confidence
Survey®
The Conference Board
The Conference Board publishes the Consumer Confidence
Index® at 10 a.m. ET
on the last Tuesday of every month. Subscription information and
the technical notes to this series are available on The Conference
Board website:
https://www.conference-board.org/data/consumerdata.cfm.
About The Conference Board
The Conference Board is the member-driven think tank that
delivers trusted insights for what's ahead. Founded in 1916, we are
a non-partisan, not-for-profit entity holding 501 (c) (3)
tax-exempt status in the United States.
www.conference-board.org.
About NIELSEN
Nielsen Holdings plc (NYSE: NLSN) is a global performance
management company that provides a comprehensive understanding of
what consumers watch and buy. Nielsen's Watch segment provides
media and advertising clients with Total Audience measurement
services for all devices on which content — video, audio and text —
is consumed. The Buy segment offers consumer packaged goods
manufacturers and retailers the industry's only global view of
retail performance measurement. By integrating information from its
Watch and Buy segments and other data sources, Nielsen also
provides its clients with analytics that help improve performance.
Nielsen, an S&P 500 company, has operations in over 100
countries, covering more than 90 percent of the world's population.
For more information,
visit www.nielsen.com.
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SOURCE The Conference Board