Confidence Warms Up in August

Just 8 percent of Americans rate the economy positively.

ByABC News
December 9, 2008, 9:59 AM

Aug. 25, 2009 — -- Consumer confidence has moved up in August to its best in three months, though remaining at historically low levels.

The ABC News Consumer Comfort Index stands at -45 on its scale of -100 to +100, up 4 points in the past month and 8 points since the summer's start. But it's nonetheless been very low for very long, this week matching its average since 2008. It's much closer to its record low, -54 in January, than to its 23-year average -12, much less its highs.

Click here for PDF with charts and data table.

Two separate, forward-looking measures point to decreasing economic pessimism. In an ABC News/Washington Post poll last week fewer than half said the current recession will last more than another year, down from 70 percent in February. And last week's CCI found 31 percent saying the economy's getting worse, the fewest in more than five years.

President Obama announced his nomination of Ben Bernanke today for a second term as chairman of the Federal Reserve, crediting him with putting "the brakes on our economic freefall" while noting that "we are a long way away from a completely healthy financial system and a full economic recovery." Unemployment remains a significant problem, at 9.4 percent, but home values are showing signs of recovery: The Case-Shiller Home Price Index released today shows the first quarterly increase in home values nationally in three years, and existing home sales in July beat those in June by the biggest one-month jump in a decade.

INDEX – The CCI is based on Americans' ratings of the national economy, their personal finances and the buying climate. Only 8 percent rate the economy positively, in single digits for 43 of the past 46 weeks and 30 points below its long-term average in weekly polls since late 1985.

Twenty-five percent say it's a good time to buy things – 2 points from the best of the year but just 7 points above the all-time low, 12 points below average and below 30 percent for a record 76 weeks.