Confidence Runs Out of Gas in May

June 2, 2009 — -- Rising gasoline prices have cut short an advance in public ratings of the current economy, pushing consumer confidence back near its record low in nearly a generation.

The ABC News Consumer Comfort Index has dropped 7 points below its mid-May high. No wonder: The average price of a gallon of unleaded gasoline has gained 48 cents since the end of April. Rising gas prices historically have depressed consumer views.

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The CCI now stands at -49 on its scale of +100 to -100, worsening in the last three weeks after hitting -42 on May 10, its best of the year. The index now matches its 2009 average and is just 5 points from its record low in 23 years of weekly polls, -54 on Jan. 25.

The index is based on Americans' views of current economic conditions. Expectations for the future, which ABC measures separately, improved last month to their best in five years. Current sentiment, though, is the measure more firmly rooted in today's reality.

INDEX – The CCI's changes stem mostly from ratings of personal finances, which have swung from 45 percent positive in early April to 52 percent May 10, then back to 45 percent now – 12 points below their long-term average.

Positive ratings of the other two other elements of the CCI – the national economy and the buying climate – are steadier, and as usual, much lower. Twenty-four percent say it's a good time to buy things, stuck in a tight 2-point range the last seven weeks, 13 points below average and just 6 points above the record low in October and August.

In the worst of the three measures, only 7 percent rate the economy positively, in single digits for 32 of the last 34 weeks and 31 points below the long-term average.

TREND – The CCI advanced, in fits and starts, from a recent low of -51 in mid-April to its mid-May level, then took its sharpest three-week decline since October.

That extends a rough ride for confidence this year. The index's 2009 average so far, -49, is 37 points below its long-term average and 7 points below its 2008 average – itself the second worst on record, after 1992's -44.