The FINANCIAL — Americans’ confidence in the economy remains stable, with the Gallup U.S. Economic Confidence Index averaging -12 for the week ending Aug. 28. This is the index’s third consecutive week at this level.
The index has remained relatively calm since mid-summer 2015, after declining from +5 in January 2015. The average weekly index over the past year has been -12, equal to last week’s score, according to Gallup.
However, the index has reached a standstill over the past month. It hit -10 in late July after the Democratic convention and has remained near this level since then. Interestingly, this stability aligns with unusual calm for the U.S. stock market, typically a fountain of volatility. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index recently logged its least volatile 30-day period (that is, the smallest day-to-day change in prices) in more than two decades.
Gallup’s U.S. Economic Confidence Index is the average of two components: how Americans rate current economic conditions and whether they feel the economy is improving or getting worse. The index has a theoretical maximum of +100 if all Americans say the economy is doing well and improving, and a theoretical minimum of -100 if all Americans say the economy is doing poorly and getting worse.
The current conditions score averaged -4 last week, reflecting 26% of Americans saying current economic conditions are “excellent” or “good” and 30% saying they are “poor.” The economic outlook component averaged -20, reflecting 38% of Americans saying the economy is “getting better” and 58% saying it is “getting worse.”
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