Confidence Dip Shows Consumer Uneasiness

The Conference Board's Consumer Confidence Index (CCI) declined for the fifth month in a row during February, shedding another 7.7% on top of the cumulative 18.8% that had been lost since September 2000's peak reading. The February 2001 confidence reading was 24.1% lower than during the same month in 2000.

Consumers' assessment of current economic conditions again faded relatively modestly over the month, losing 3.7% between January and February. This left the February 2001 index for the "current" component 8.9% lower than during the second month of 2000.

Most ominously, however, the forward-looking "expectations" component of the index (which asks consumers to define economic conditions six months out in the future) plummeted 13.4% during February 2001, after plunging more than 18% during the first month of the new year. It was 40.1% lower this February than last February.

CCI readings for eight of the nation's nine regions recorded decreases between January and February of this year. Bucking the trend was New England, where February confidence came in 4.9% higher than in the first month of 2001. The sharpest loss in confidence (-21.0%) during February was recorded in the East South Central region.

This material is specially compiled for Graphic Arts Monthly by Delano Data Insights, which provides economic analysis and forecasts via newsletters and reports covering a variety of industry sectors. For more information, contact Daryl Delano, 30 Flintlocke Drive, Plymouth, Mass. 02360, telephone (508) 746-7180.