SAN FRANCISCO-The Money Anxiety Index for January stood at 93.9, an improvement of 1.4 index points over the same month in 2011 and is shaking out at 92.3 in February, an improvement of 0.7 over January, and a 2.4-point increase over the same month last year.
The Money Anxiety Index has been on the rise since the beginning of the recession in December 2007, and peaked in mid-2011 at 99.5.
The index improved gradually in the past six months, which its author said indicates a higher level of consumer financial confidence.
However, said Dan Geller, trend analyst at Money Anxiety Index, there is a "cloud" hovering over the improvement in the financial confidence of U.S. consumers, and that is the instability of the Eurozone financial system.
For info: www.moneyanxiety.com
MAI: Consumers More Confident Financially
SAN FRANCISCO-The preliminary December Money Anxiety Index decreased to 94.2, down 0.2 index points from November, and a continuation of a decrease in the level of consumer financial anxiety since July of this year.
The Money Anxiety Index is still higher than its December 2010 level by 1.3 index points.
The improvement in the Money Anxiety index, which the author says is based on real economic indicators, is impacted in part by the decrease of 0.4% in the unemployment rate to 8.6 in November. However, even though private-sector employment increased by 140,000 jobs, a large portion of the increase was in retail, which added 50,000 temporary jobs for the holiday season. Additionally, there was a drop of 315,000 people in the civilian labor force, which may reflect people leaving the workforce once their unemployment benefits are exhausted.
"As I projected earlier this year," said Dan Geller, Trend Analyst at Money Anxiety Index, "consumers started feeling more confident about their finances in July of this year, which was reflected in the increase of 2.4% in consumer spending during the third quarter. I expect the fourth quarter to top the third quarter in terms of consumer spending and GDP growth."
For info: www.moneyanxiety.com
