Economic optimism tailed off in February. Oil prices are at least partly to gain, although the data is from a month ago. It is not hard to guess that the figures will worsen in March
Gallup reports that its “Economic Confidence Index worsened to -24 in February from -21 the prior month as Americans’ optimism about the U.S. economy receded from a three-year high reached in January.”
Gallup’s Economic Confidence Index is based on two questions. One measures consumers’ perceptions of current economic conditions and shows them to be the same in February as in January, with 42% of Americans rating current economic conditions “poor.”
The second Index component asks Americans to rate the outlook for the U.S. economy. In February, 38% said economic conditions are “getting better,” down from 41% a month earlier. However, this decline follows a January optimism level that tied for the highest since Gallup Daily tracking began in January 2008.
Methodology: Results are based on telephone interviews conducted with 13,349 respondents as part of Gallup Daily tracking during the month of February 2011, aged 18 and older, living in all 50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia, selected using random-digit-dial sampling.
Douglas A. McIntyre
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