Share this on

Consumer confidence slips; home-buying plans also dip

Janice Chamberlain -- Furniture Today, April 10, 2005

New York — For the first time since October, The Conference Board's Consumer Confidence Index in March posted an overall drop plus declines in both its components, the Present Situation Index and the Expectations Index.

The overall Index now stands at 102.4 points, off two points from February. The Present Situation Index slipped to 115.6 points in March from February's 116.8 points, and the Expectations Index fell to 93.7 points from the 96.1 points recorded a month earlier.

Home-buying plans also slipped in March, with 3.7% of consumers planning to buy a home in the six next months compared with 4.1% in February.

Lynn Franco, director of The Conference Board's Consumer Research Center, said, "Consumers are still quite confident despite recent increases in unemployment claims and rising prices at the gas pumps. Their overall assessment of current economic conditions remains favorable and their short-term outlook suggests little change in the months ahead.

"In fact, while expectations have lost ground, consumers anticipate the job market will continue to improve, and easing employment concerns should help keep spending on track."

Appraising the current situation, 84% of survey participants said business conditions were good or normal in March, compared with 84.3% in February. In March, 21.3% of them said jobs were plentiful, measured against 21.2% in February.

The Consumer Confidence Survey is based on a representative sample of 5,000 U.S. households.

The cutoff date for March's preliminary results was March 23.

Share this on

Consumer confidence plummets to lowest level since 2009

Aug 31, 2011

Consumer Confidence rebounds modestly in August

Aug 25, 2009

Consumer confidence dips in July

Jul 28, 2009

Consumer confidence, job outlook edge up

Jun 1, 2009

Consumer confidence takes another jump in May

May 26, 2009

Also by this author

Also by Janice Chamberlain

Featured Company

FurnitureCore.com

FurnitureCore.com is a dynamic web application aimed at the furniture industry. Retailers and manufacturers alike will find our deep reserve of tools to be exactly what their furniture business needs.www.furniturecore.com... more

Most Recent Resources

Atlanta International Gift & Home Furnishings Market

Here is a selection of products shown at this month's International Gift & Home Furnishings Market here.

Networking at the 13th annual F/T Leadership Conference

NAPLES, Fla. — Industry executives and guests took the opportunity to network and play golf during down time at Furniture/Today's 13th annual Leadership Conference here this month.