Confidence Ties its Record Low
Fifty-nine percent of Americans say their personal finances are in bad shape
Jan. 27, 2009 — -- Consumer confidence has matched its worst in 23 years of weekly polls, with a record number of Americans saying their personal finances are in bad shape – and nearly all rating the national economy negatively.
Fifty-nine percent say their own finances are not good, the most in ongoing ABC News polling since late 1985. Ninety-five percent say the economy's in bad shape, tying last week's record. And 77 percent call it a bad time to buy things, 5 points from its worst.
Click here for PDF with charts and data table.
ABC's Consumer Comfort Index, based on these gauges, stands at -54 on its scale of +100 to -100, down 5 points in two weeks to tie its worst ever, set Dec. 1. That compares to a long-term average of -11 and a high of +38 in early 2000.
The CCI hit -50 or lower just once from late 1985 through 2007 (in 1992) – but then did so 10 times last year, and twice in the first four weeks this year.
Confidence returned to its low as some of the nation's most prominent companies announced major layoffs: Caterpillar, Pfizer, Sprint Nextel, Home Depot, Texas Instruments and General Motors said Monday they'll shed up to 60,000 jobs. Separately the latest Case-Shiller Home Price Index dropped a record 18.2 percent in 20 metro areas measured.
INDEX – The CCI finds that just 41 percent of Americans now rate their own finances positively, a record low, 16 points off the long-term average and below a majority for 27 straight weeks, the longest such streak since a 40-week run in 1992-93.
Just 5 percent rate the economy positively, tying the low set last week and a huge 34 points below the long-term average. It's been in single digits for 12 straight weeks, a week shy of the record set in 1992.
In the third measure, just 23 percent rate the buying climate positively, 15 points off the long-term average but still 5 points above its record low in October and August.
TREND – Annual averages for the index sum up its story – from -11 on average in 2007 it plummeted to an average -42 in 2008, with deterioration in each of the last seven quarters. It started this year flat at -49 before dropping to -53 last week, its first significant one-week move since mid-October.
