Confidence Closes Out 2008 With Worst 4th Quarter Ever
Just 6 percent of Americans rate the national economy positively.
Dec. 30, 2008 — -- Consumer confidence struggled through its second-worst year capped off by the worst fourth quarter ever. Along the way, it set or tied new lows four times.
The ABC News Consumer Comfort Index closes the year at -49 on its scale of +100 to -100, about the same as last week's -48 and 1 point off its fourth-quarter average -50, its lowest quarter ever, surpassing the previous mark -47 in Q1 of 1992.
Click here for PDF with charts and data table.
Ratings of the national economy hit an all-time low this week, with just 6 percent of Americans saying it's in excellent or good shape, while ratings of the buying climate backed off their record low in October to a four-month high.
Starting the year at -20, the CCI never got better, and the final stretch was its worst: Confidence lingered for six weeks at or below -50 from mid-November to mid-December, bottoming out at -54 on Dec. 1. It's been -50 or lower only 11 times in 1,200 weeks of ongoing polls, 10 of them this year.
There's been a continual stream of bad news for consumers in 2008: Real estate values plummeted in the wake of an historic financial meltdown requiring a federal bailout, the stock market suffered record losses, unemployment hit a 15-year high, gas prices peaked at $4.11 in July (their highest on record), retailers suffered their worst Christmas season in years and official word came down that the U.S. economy has been in recession since December 2007.
INDEX – The CCI is based on Americans' ratings of the economy, their personal finances and the buying climate. As noted, only 6 percent rate the economy positively, a record low and the weakest of the three measures.
Positive ratings of the economy have been below 10 percent for the last eight weeks, exceeded only by a 13-week run in early 1992; they're down 25 points on the year and 33 points off the long-term average. They've averaged 15 percent on the year – only 1992 was lower at 10 percent.
Twenty-five percent rate the buying climate positively – its best since mid-September, up 5 points since early December. However, it's down 6 points this year and 13 points below the average. Twenty-five percent or fewer have rated the buying climate positively for 39 straight weeks, the longest such run on record. Positive ratings of the buying climate averaged 23 percent for 2008, the lowest for any year on record.
Related Stories
ABC News Live