Consumer confidence has inched away from the 2007 low it set three weeks ago, a slight improvement amid moderate gasoline prices. But don't call it a party. The ABC News/Washington Post Consumer Comfort Index still sits in the negative double digits.
After bottoming June 3 at -15 on its scale of +100 to -100, the CCI stands today at -12. While this is not a statistically significant improvement, it is a turn from its previous monthlong dive as gas prices soared. Still, the CCI remains well below its 2007 average, -6.
Gas now averages $2.98 a gallon in the weekly U.S. Department of Energy survey, down from a peak of $3.22 May 21. It's under $3 for the first time since late April.
INDEX -- The ABC/Post index is based on Americans' ratings of their own finances, the national economy and the buying climate. This week a comparatively healthy 60 percent rate their own finances positively, compared with a long-term average of 57 percent in monthly polls since late 1985, and about the same as the 2007 average, 61 percent.
Ratings of the national economy, 38 percent positive for the second consecutive week, are five points below their yearly average; ratings of the buying climate, 34 percent positive for the third week in a row, are four points off their average this year.
TREND -- Though May's decline has eased, the CCI is in the negative double digits for the fifth consecutive week. It's 14 points below its 2007 high, +2 on March 11, and, as noted, six points below its 2007 average.
The CCI's 21-year average is -9, with a range from a high of +38 in January 2000 to a low of -50 in February 1992.
GROUPS -- Confidence, as usual, is higher among better-off groups. The index is +44 among higher-income Americans but -55 among those with the lowest incomes, +7 among people who've been to college while -33 among those who haven't finished high school, -8 among whites but -49 among blacks and -5 among men while -18 among women.
It remains much higher among Republicans (+22) than among independents (-20) or Democrats (-28).
