At -50, CCI in Familiar Territory

April 7, 2009 — -- Consumer confidence has slipped to its lowest in two months after another dreadful jobs report.

The ABC News Consumer Comfort Index stands at -50 on its scale of +100 to -100, down 3 points from its pitiful 2009 high of -47 three weeks ago and just 4 points from the 23-year low it reached Jan. 25. This week's measure ends a seven-week stretch in which the CCI inched above the grim -50 level.

Click here for a PDF with charts and data table.

Confidence is struggling under the worst job market in a generation; the latest Bureau of Labor Statistics report puts unemployment at 8.5 percent, its highest since 1983. In 16 months the recession has cost 5.1 million jobs, with 13.2 million now out of work.

An ABC News/Washington Post poll last week found less gloomy views of the future, a measure less rooted in the reality of the moment and more sensitive to other factors, such as political sentiment. Current sentiment, by contrast, is nearly as bad as it's ever been in this poll's weekly readings.

INDEX – The CCI is based on Americans' ratings of the national economy, their personal finances and the buying climate. Just 7 percent rate the economy positively, in single digits for a record 22 weeks and 32 points below the long-term average.

Twenty-three percent say it's a good time to buy things, its worst in two months, 14 points below average and just 5 points from the low reached in October and August. A quarter or fewer have rated the buying climate positively for 12 weeks straight.

In the third measure, only 45 percent rate their personal finances positively – less than a majority for the 37th week straight, the longest such stretch since 1993.

TREND – At -50, the CCI matches its average for the year so far. It's the fifth time in 2009 the index has been -50 or worse, compared with 10 times in all of 2008 and only once before that in weekly polling since December 1985.

The CCI's been stuck between -47 and -54 for 26 weeks, an unprecedented slump. It's been below -40 for 50 weeks straight, another record. And it hasn't seen positive territory since March 2007.