On March 1, 2016 Gallup released the poll results titled “U.S. Economic Confidence Steady in February.”
Notable excerpts include:
Americans’ confidence in the U.S. economy has held steady since July. Gallup’s Economic Confidence Index averaged -13 in February, within the narrow range of -14 to -11 recorded over the past eight months. Consumers’ confidence in the economy is notably lower than a year ago, when the index registered +1 for February — one of only two positive monthly readings since 2008.
also:
Gallup’s Economic Confidence Index is the average of two components: how Americans rate current economic conditions and whether they believe the economy is getting better or getting worse. The index has a theoretical high of +100, if all Americans rate the current economy as “excellent” or “good” and say it is “getting better.” It has a theoretical low of -100, if all Americans rate the current economy as “poor” and say it is “getting worse.”
In February, 25% of Americans rated current economic conditions as excellent or good, while 30% rated them as poor, resulting in a current conditions score of -5. Meanwhile, 38% of Americans said the economy is getting better and 58% said it is getting worse, resulting in an economic outlook score of -20 — among the lowest economic outlook scores recorded in the past year.
Here is an accompanying chart of the two components (Sub-Indexes) of the Gallup Economic Confidence Index, discussed above:
Here is an accompanying chart of the Gallup Economic Confidence Index:
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The Special Note summarizes my overall thoughts about our economic situation
SPX at 1978.35 as this post is written