TOEIC question: What is the consumer sentiment index?

[FrankU]

I think this is business related to I'm posting this question here:

What is the consumer sentiment index? I heard that on CNN and I figure it must be some kind of indicator as to how willingly the consumers spend their money but I'm not sure.

Thank you anyway
Frank
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[Comenius]

Hi FrankU,

The Consumer Confidence Index is published every month by the University of Michigan. It is a survey of consumers in the United States, and is used to gauge their current and future economic outlook. It's been around since the 1960's, and is a popular measure in the United States of how the general public is feeling about the economy.

Hope this helps,

-David
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[Jamie (K)]

FrankU, you're right. Its basic purpose is to measure the optimism or pessimism of the average consumer about the future direction of the economy, and thus his or her willingness to spend money instead of save it. I think this is what Jan Amos Komensky meant by "outlook" in his post. Low consumer sentiment can be an early warning of a recession, because when people are pessimistic, they stop spending money, and that's what makes a recession occur.