Consumer Sentiment: Consumer Confidence Rebounds in July

WASHINGTON, DC – American consumer confidence, as measured by the Thomson Reuters/Ipsos Primary Consumer Sentiment Index, rebounded in July from last month’s four point drop seeing an increase from 59.8 to 61.8. All four sub-indices considered in the Primary Index saw an increase this month. The Current Index saw the greatest increase, up 2.8 points, followed closely by a 2.6 point increase in the Jobs Index.

“Last month’s results showed a lot of economic uncertainty among the American public as international relations and trade reached the forefront of current events.” reported Chris Jackson, VP at survey research firm Ipsos. “It appears that the fallout from these events has not had any negative effect on the American public in terms of their optimism toward the current and future state of the economy. The first set of tariffs implemented on China took effect July 6th, so next month’s report will be the first to capture consumer sentiment as those take effect. It will be interesting to see if public sentiment is different a month into the reality of tariffs compared to the past few months of tariff speculation.”

Jharonne Martis, Director of Consumer Research at Thomson Reuters, said, “As the second quarter comes to a close for retailers, it is evident that consumers spending remained robust. For Q2 2018 the Thomson Reuters Same Store Sales Index is expected to see a 3.3% growth, which is above the 3.0% healthy mark. This suggests that strong consumer spending momentum continues from the fourth quarter of 2017 into the second quarter of 2018.”

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The Thomson Reuters/Ipsos US Primary Consumer Sentiment Index (PCSI), ongoing since 2010, is a monthly national survey of consumer attitudes on the current and future state of local economies, personal finance situations, savings and confidence to make large investments. The Index is composed of four sub-indices: Current Conditions Index; Expectations Index; Investment Index; and, Jobs Index.