US Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index

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What is it?

• It is a monthly report which consolidates information about consumer attitudes, buying intentions, vacation plans, and consumer expectations for inflation, stock prices, and interest rates.
• Such measurement is indicative of the consumption component level of from domestic businesses.
• The Federal Reserve looks at the Consumer Index when determining interest rate changes.
• Data are available by age, income, 9 regions, and the top 8 states.
• The consumer confidence index started in 1967 and is benchmarked to 1985 = 100.
• It is considered as a lagging indicator.

Who Reports It?

The Conference Board publishes the Consumer Confidence Index® at 10 a.m. ET on the last Tuesday of every month.

How it is Calculated?

The monthly Consumer Confidence index is based on an online survey

• The survey is collected from 5000 US Household
• The panel is asked about opinions on current conditions and future expectations of the economy.
• Current Conditions include opinions about Buisness Condition, Employment Condition
• Future Expectations include opinions about Future Buisness Condition, Future Employment Condition & Future Total Family Income
• All the Future Expection are asked within 6 months timeframe
• Survey participants are asked to answer each question as “positive”, “negative” or “neutral.”
• Once the data have been gathered, a proportion known as the “relative value” is calculated for each question separately.
• Relative value is calculated by taking account of each question’s positive responses divided by the sum of its positive and negative responses.
• Opinions on current conditions make up 40% of the index, with expectations of future conditions comprising the remaining 60%
• The relative value for each question is then compared against each relative value from 1985.
• This comparison of the relative values results in an “index…