consumer confidence index
Definition
A measure of consumer optimism toward current economic conditions. The consumer confidence index was arbitrarily set at 100 in 1985 and is adjusted monthly on the basis of a survey of about 5,000 households. The index considers consumer opinion on both current conditions (40% of the index) and future expectations (the other 60%). The Consumer Confidence Index is closely watched because many economists consider consumer optimism an important indicator of the future health of the economy.
Use this term in a sentence
“ We had to check the consumer confidence index because we wanted to see how optimistic the consumers were going to be. ”
“ As the job market has strengthen over the past 6 months, the consumer confidence index has also risen which bodes well for Black Friday sales later on this year. ”
“ Survey based measures of household confidence, such as a consumer confidence index, can be used to gauge the future spending habits of consumers and thus affect valuations of stocks in the consumer discretionary sector. ”
