skippy the bush kangaroo

Tuesday, October 26, 2004

happy feast of demetrius the martyr from the bush economic team

consumer confidence fell for the third straight month, says reuters:


u.s. consumers turned more gloomy in october, beset by soaring energy prices, relentless violence in iraq and the increasingly bitter end of the presidential election campaign.

the conference board's gauge of consumer confidence fell to 92.8 in october, the lowest level in seven months, from 96.7 the prior month, the private business group said on tuesday. the reading was below economists' expectations for a dip to 94.0.

the main index was dragged down mainly by consumer expectations, which tumbled to 92.0 from 97.7. the current conditions index slipped to 94.2 from 95.3.
"consumers are more concerned about the future than they are about current conditions and i think that has a lot to do with the high oil prices we're seeing and probably some of the election rhetoric," said gary thayer, chief economist at a.g. edwards & sons in st. louis.
cnnmoney tells us it ain't good news for awol:

the decline is a potentially troubling sign for president bush who's in a tight race against sen. john kerry. since the 1968 election, a conference board index reading below 100 generally indicates a loss for the incumbent's party.

consumer confidence is also important for the economy, since consumer spending fuels two-thirds of gross domestic product, the broadest measure of u.s. economic output.
the rassmussen consumer index also fell:


the rasmussen consumer index fell a point on tuesday to 116.3. the index, which measures the economic confidence of american consumers on a daily basis, is down one from a week ago, down one from a month ago and down five points from three months ago.

the rasmussen investor index dropped two-and-a-half points on tuesday to 134.1. the investor index is down one from a week ago, down two from a month ago, and down ten points from three months ago.

thirty-six percent (36%) of american adults say their own personal finances are getting better while 43% say they are getting worse. those numbers are similar to those from a month ago when 36% said better and 41% worse.
trick or treat!
posted by skippy at 1:08 PM |

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