POLL: Confidence Stabilizes; Matches Long-Term Average

Confidence is at a standstill this week after a volatile June and July when ratings hit their low point for the year, and then began to edge back up.

The ABC News/Washington Post Consumer Comfort Index stands at -9 this week on its scale of +100 to -100. The CCI is in the same range as last week's rating of -8 and matches its long-term average. A bumpy spring and summer -- including four, five, and six point one-week jumps -- has transitioned smoothly from July into August.

Click here for PDF with charts and data table.

Click here for more ABC News polls.

Consumer ratings have held steady in the face of mixed economic news. Gas prices continue to fall, dropping four cents this week to $2.84 a gallon in weekly Energy Department surveys. At the same time, employment reports from the Department of Labor show slower growth in jobs than anticipated.

Related

m0722.pdf

INDEX -- The ABC/Post index is based on views of the buying climate, the national economy and personal finances, each of which match or are near their long-term average.

Ratings of the buying climate, at 39 percent positive, have been steady for three weeks and are near its 21-year average of 38 percent. This week positive ratings of the national economy, at 40 percent, are below their 2007 average of 43 percent. Positive ratings of personal finances, at 57 percent, are identical to their long-term average.

TREND -- With a rating of -9, the CCI matches its long-term average from weekly polls beginning in December 1985. It is three points below its 2007 average of -6 and about the same as last week's ratings of -8. This year's ratings have ranged from +2 on March 11 to -15 on June 3.

GROUPS -- As usual, confidence is higher among better-off Americans. The index is +49 among higher-income people while -45 among those with the lowest incomes, +4 among those who've been to college while -37 among high-school dropouts and -6 among whites but -38 among blacks. The gap between men and women, while still narrow, has widened this week with men at -7 and women at -12. For the last four weeks the two groups were unusually close with only one or two point differences.