GALLUP: Weekly Economic Wrap: Consumer Mood Improves

[FrenchieCat]

PRINCETON, NJ -- Gallup's Consumer Mood Index -- measured on a daily basis -- improved by 13 points last week over the week before. At the same time, Gallup's Consumer Spending Index decreased by $6.



Sharp Improvement in Consumer Mood; No Spending Response

The upswing in consumer mood has been a very recent event, as Gallup's Consumer Mood Index improved to -103 during the week of March 9-15 -- up sharply from -116 during March 2-8 and from -111 during the last week in February. The three-day rolling averages show an even more pronounced improvement from the beginning to the end of the week.

Gallup's Consumer Spending Index shows that Americans' self-reported spending in stores, restaurants, gas stations, and online actually declined over the past week on average, dropping from $61 per day from March 2-8 to $55 per day last week. A month ago, consumer spending averaged $68 per day. Spending is down 33% from the $82 per day of the same week a year ago. Over the last couple days, there were indications of some possible recovery in spending, suggesting the possibility of a lagged impact of consumer mood on spending.



Financial Worries Ease Slightly

The percentage of consumers saying they worried about money "yesterday" eased slightly last week, as Gallup's Financial Worry Index fell to 34 -- down from 38 during the prior two weeks. The Index stood at 35 during the same week a year ago.



Net New Hiring Worsens Slightly

Gallup's Net New Hiring measure worsened slightly to -6 last week from -4 the prior week. Gallup's most recent jobs measure suggests jobless claims will exceed 650,000 once again when the government reports them on Thursday. Net New Hiring stood at 25 a year ago.



More....

http://www.gallup.com/poll/116905/Weekly-Economic-Wrap-Consumer-Mood-Improves.aspx

[Median Democrat]

1. Always Appreciate The Raw Data

With today's Octomom 24/7 cable news coverage it is rare to get basic facts, and not Fox News/CNBC infotainment.