Rasmussen Consumer Index

Investor Confidence Falls to Record Low for Second Straight Day

Wednesday, November 26, 2008

Investor confidence fell for the fourth straight day on Wednesday to set a record low for the second straight day.

The Rasmussen Investor Index fell two more points to 62.6. That’s down six points from a week ago, twelve points from a month ago, and fifty points from the beginning of the year. Prior to this year, the Investor Index had never fallen below 91.1.

Just 7% of Investors rate the economy as good or excellent while 64% say it is in poor shape. Eleven percent (11%) of Investors believe the economy is getting better while 69% say it is getting worse.

The Rasmussen Consumer Index, which measures the economic confidence of consumers on a daily basis, also fell on Wednesday and is now just two-tenths of a point above its all-time low. At 60.3, the Consumer Index is down five points over the past week, down twelve points over the past month and down thirty-nine points from the beginning of the year.

Fifty-nine percent (59%) of Americans adults say their own personal finances are getting worse, 57% say they’re eating out less now than they were six months ago, and 66% expect to spend less on holiday shopping this year.

The Rasmussen Consumer Index and Investor Index are derived from nightly telephone surveys of 500 adults and reported on a three-day rolling average basis. There will be no polling until Sunday night due to the holiday weekend and the next update will be released on Monday, December 1.

Most Americans don’t know enough about the incoming Treasury Secretary to have an opinion about him, one way or the other.

For the first time ever - a plurality of investors would put new investment money in a bank savings account than in the stock market or in real estate.

The Discover Small Business Watch shows that confidence among small business owners declined for the third straight month, and fell below 70.0 for the first time since the Watch was established in August 2006.

The Rasmussen Employment Index, a monthly measure of U.S. worker confidence in the employment market, fell sixteen points in October to 72.1. That’s the biggest single month drop and the lowest level of confidence ever recorded in the five-year history of the Index. Following that report, the government released its employment report showing unemployment jumping to 6.5% amidst an unexpectedly large drop in jobs.

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The Rasmussen Consumer Index and Investor Index are derived from nightly telephone surveys of 500 adults and reported on a three-day rolling average basis. The baseline for the Index was established at 100.0 in October 2001. Readings above 100.0 indicate that confidence is higher than in the baseline month. Detailed supplemental information is available for Premium Members. Historical data for the Consumer and Investor indexes as well as attitudes about the economy and personal finances are also available to Premium Members.

The Rasmussen Consumer Index reached its highest level ever at 127.0 on January 6, 2004. The all-time low was reached on November 22, 2008 at 60.1.

The Rasmussen Investor Index reached its highest level ever at 150.9 on January 7, 2004. The lowest level ever measured was 62.6 on November 26, 2008.

The baseline for the Rasmussen Consumer Index was established at 100.0 in October 2001. The current reading of 60.3 that overall levels of economic confidence are lower today than the confidence level in the aftermath of the 9-11 terrorist attacks.

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