Elections Today
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Recent Projections
| State | Candidate | Delegates |
|---|---|---|
 Donald Trump | ||
Pennsylvania |  Joe Biden |
Just in Time for the Holidays: Confidence Matches 2009 High
Just 7 percent of Americans rate the economy positively.
Dec. 22, 2009 — -- It may not quite rate as a Christmas miracle, but consumer confidence approached the holiday on a high note this week, rising to match its best level of the year – including an advance in ratings of the buying climate to their best in 20 months.
In a sign of some hope for retailers, 30 percent of Americans now call it a good time to spend money, up 9 points since late October to the most since March 2008. Ratings of personal finance also are up. But views of the national economy pull confidence back down.
Click here for PDF with charts and data table.
Overall, at -42 on its scale of +100 to -100, the ABC News Consumer Comfort Index is its best since May, up 5 points in two weeks, up 9 points from late October and 12 points better than the all-time low it set last January. But there are miles to go: The CCI remains far below its long-term average, -12, and on track for its worst year on average in 24 years of weekly polls.
Previous rally attempts this year have failed, underscoring the fragility of consumer sentiment.
INDEX – The index is based on views of the national economy, the buying climate and personal finances. While the latter two have improved, ratings of the economy remain persistently negative: Just 7 percent say it's in good shape overall, 31 points below the long-term average.
Half, by contrast, now say their own finances are in good shape, the most since May and up 7 points in five weeks. This measure is now just 7 points below average.
Ratings of the buying climate, similarly, are 7 points below average, and this is the first time they've reached 30 percent positive after a record 92-week stretch below that level.
In a separate ABC News/Washington Post poll last week, half of Americans said they think the economy has begun to recover, up from 44 percent in November. At the same time, nearly three-quarters in that group called it a weak recovery so far, and 86 percent overall said that as far as their own experience goes, the recession is not over.
