Consumer Confidence Drops
Sharply
Reuters
Sep 13, 2005
NEW YORK, Sept 13 (Reuters) - U.S. consumer confidence in the economy fell
to its lowest level since June 2004, driven down by the concerns over high
gasoline prices and Hurricane Katrina's destruction along the Gulf Coast, ABC
News and the Washington Post said on Tuesday.
ABC News and the Washington Post said their Consumer Comfort Index fell to
-20 in the week ending Sept. 11 from a revised -15 the prior week.
Earlier on Tuesday, Investor's Business Daily and TechoMetrica Market
Intelligence said their measure of monthly economic optimism fell to an
all-time low of 41.2 in September in the wake of the hurricane's
destruction.
The index is a four-week moving average and two of the four weeks have
occurred after Hurricane Katrina hit.
All three components of the ABC/Washington Post index fell in the latest
week. The percentage of Americans with a positive view of the economy fell to
32 percent from 40 percent.
The number of consumers with positive views of their personal finances
slipped to 56 percent from 57 percent, while only 32 percent of Americans
thought the buying climate was good down from 39 percent a week ago.
Confidence measures are generally viewed as a barometer of consumer
spending, which accounts for two-thirds of the U.S. economy. However,
economists note that consumers do not always act in accordance with their
statements to surveys.
The ABC/Washington Post confidence index was based on a sample of about
1,000 interviews conducted in the four weeks ending Sept. 11 and has a margin
of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.
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