Consumer Confidence declines in December
By Furniture Today Staff -- Furniture Today, January 6, 2003
New York — The Conference Board's Consumer Confidence Index dropped more than four points in December, but one of the few bright spots in the survey was a slight increase of people expecting to buy a home in the next six months.
The December survey put the Index at 80.3, off 4.6 points from November's 84.9. The Present Situation Index fell to 69.9 from 78.3 and the Expectations Index declined to 87.2 from 89.3.
In December, 3.2% of those participating in the survey said they expected to buy a home in the next six months, up a tenth of a point from November's 3.1%. The 13-month high in home-buying expectations was the 4.5% posted in August.
All nine of the regions suffered declines in confidence, with New England recording the largest drop — 20.2 points. New England's December score of 62.3 was the lowest in 13 months. The Pacific region also posted its lowest score in 13 months — 75.7, off 6.4 points from November.
"Latest signals from consumers are in keeping with a continuing mixed bag of economic news, " said Lynn Franco, director of the Conferences Board's Consumer Research Center.
"The major factors dampening consumers' spirits have been the rising unemployment rate and the discouraging job outlook," Franco said. "Weak retail sales over the holidays clearly reflect the current mood of consumers. Until there is an improvement in labor market conditions, there is not likely to be a significant upturn in consumer confidence."
Of those participating in the survey, 74.2% rated business conditions "good" or "normal" in December, nearly even with November's 74.3%. Looking six months into the future, 89% saw business conditions as getting better or the staying the same, compared with 88.7% in November.
The Consumer Confidence Survey is based on a representative sample of 5,000 U.S. households.
