Biz

Holiday Shopping Blues? US Consumer Comfort Tanks

DATA COULD BRING ILL TIDINGS FOR RETAILERS  In a terrible sign for this year’s holiday shopping season, consumer comfort in the United States just hit a new low for 2015.  Even more ominously, Americans’ views of the buying climate “took a big step back.” Bloomberg’s Consumer Comfort Index (CCI) – which measures…

DATA COULD BRING ILL TIDINGS FOR RETAILERS 

In a terrible sign for this year’s holiday shopping season, consumer comfort in the United States just hit a new low for 2015.  Even more ominously, Americans’ views of the buying climate “took a big step back.”

Bloomberg’s Consumer Comfort Index (CCI) – which measures consumer comfort on a scale of zero to 100 – currently stands at 39.6. That’s a 5.6-point drop from its mid-October peak, and a 8.3-point drop from its post-recession peak in April of this year.

Meanwhile the CCI’s buying climate subindex – which analysts watch like hawks this time of year – plunged 2.8 points in a single week to 34.5.  That’s just one point off of its 2015 lows.

“It couldn’t come at a worse time of year, with the latest CCI interviews conducted during Thanksgiving week – the traditional kickoff to the Christmas retail season,” noted the firm that compiles the data (.pdf here).

Take a look at the troubling trend lines …

(Click to enlarge)

bloomberg CCI

(Chart via Bloomberg)

Hold up … wasn’t 2015 supposed to be the year the U.S. economy came roaring back?  Yes … that’s what we were told.

Clearly that didn’t happen, though, and now the economy appears to be sputtering as it heads into its most critical stretch of the year.

Compiled weekly since December 1985, the CCI is based on 1,000 national random-sample landline and cellular telephone interviews, 250 per week (in a four-week rolling average).  Its record high of 69 was reached on January 16, 2000.  Its record low of 23 has been recorded on four separate occasions – most recently June 21, 2009.

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46 comments

Economics 101 Student December 3, 2015 at 11:17 am

It’s almost as if economies expand and contract on a regular basis.

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9" December 3, 2015 at 11:53 am

You’re intelligent.Get off the blog.

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Bible Thumper December 3, 2015 at 4:08 pm

You obviously don’t understand all those squiggly charts over at ZeroHedge. ;-)

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euwe max December 3, 2015 at 11:21 am

Let me get this straight… you’ve been all positive about the economy, and now you’re a little bummed?

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Bible Thumper December 3, 2015 at 11:30 am

Let’s wait for tomorrow’s non-farm parole figure.

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9" December 3, 2015 at 11:51 am

I Hate Being Bipolar.It’s Awesome.

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TroubleBaby December 3, 2015 at 11:55 am

Good one.

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Werry Tard December 3, 2015 at 12:01 pm

The point of the matter is….the economy is way better off than 2008.
All the republican candidates have offered is to return us to those dark times.

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JPR224 December 3, 2015 at 12:25 pm

What are you talking about? Neither party did anything to bring the economy back. It recovered, slowly, on its own. They’re too ignorant about finance and too self-serving to understand how spend less, tax less, and encourage spending and saving at once.

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Werry Tard December 3, 2015 at 1:19 pm

Under the last Republican president the economy was ruined.
So you are wrong. Bye, bye.

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JPR224 December 3, 2015 at 1:45 pm

You missed the ENTIRE point. lol. I didn’t say Bush DIDN’T cause/abet 2008 crisis. He did. So did Clinton. Clueless Libby.

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Werry Tard December 3, 2015 at 3:24 pm

Clinton left a surplus.
What did you spend your buy-off check, in exchange for tax breaks for corporations and the rich, from GWB on? Those tax breaks really helped us regular people, huh?
Trump is leading your party and you call other people clueless?
OK?

Bible Thumper December 3, 2015 at 4:05 pm

It wasn’t Clinton, it was Republican/Gingrich – Clinton ( “the end of big government”). It was only after the Republicans gained control of Congress that we had balanced budgets and strong growth. That is why I am supportive of gridlock. It worked then and it is working now.

Rocky Verdad December 3, 2015 at 4:14 pm

Thumper – I disagree. Clinton’s Treasury refinanced the debt in 1994 to reduce the deficit. The booming economy gave us the surplus. Gingrich pushed to reduce spending increases – true, but that accounted for only about $26 billion of the $250 billion in surplus.

Bible Thumper December 3, 2015 at 4:17 pm

So, they did nothing and the economy improved on its own.
Ain’t GRIDLOCK is beautiful?

Werry Tard December 3, 2015 at 4:19 pm

So you support having a Democrat President?
Republicans are good at following, but not leading.
Unless you’re wanting to be lead into ruin.

Bible Thumper December 3, 2015 at 4:26 pm

Obama has gone ROGUE with his executive orders, releasing prisoners, withdrawing from Iraq to early. HIs EPA, Obamacare, and new fulltime/overtime/manager/worker regulations are hurting the economy, but otherwise I think the economy is improving. I support fast track, TTP and TTIP.

Werry Tard December 3, 2015 at 4:39 pm

Relax. Obama will be gone in a year. Then you can blame made-up stuff on the next Democrat president. You actually applaud Republicans obstructionism as a great way to run government. Just another follower..

Rocky Verdad December 3, 2015 at 4:20 pm

No, I mean they did keep spending from outpacing revenue growth. But the cash flow over the transsom was such they couldn’t lose. Remember, when Bill and Newt cut their deal, they project a surplus in 2001. It came much earlier.

GOP Don't Want Gridlock December 3, 2015 at 8:42 pm

Don’t worry, that gridlock was just to help them gain power in 2000 so they could go on a huge spending spree. Republicans love spending, and cutting the government’s income at the same time. Just blame the debt on the next guy, right?

Bible Thumper December 3, 2015 at 8:47 pm

The spending is bipartisan, but because they want to spend on different things, divided government means glidlock and less spending.

Bipartisan When GOP Spends It December 3, 2015 at 8:51 pm

Republican White House, Republican Senate, Republican House of Representatives: “The spending is bipartisan!”

Democrat White House, Republican Senate, Republican House of Representatives: “The spending is because of Democrats!

Werry Tard December 3, 2015 at 8:55 pm

These poor people think the country is in ruin, Obama is going to take their guns away, thousands of Muslims were cheering in the streets of New Jersey after 9/11 and PP only provides abortions so they can sell the body parts. All complete and total faberications that are easily debunked, but these morons will continue to believe all these things out of fear. Now they think Trump will be their savior. You can’t make something this stupid up!

idcydm December 3, 2015 at 5:11 pm

It’s all smoke and mirrors, did the national debt drop by $250 billion because of the so called surplus?

JPR224 December 3, 2015 at 7:33 pm

The surplus didn’t have anything to do with him. lol. Are you crazy? Clinton is the traitor who gutted Americans industry in the name of Free Trade- NAFTA. He also OK’d the disastrous mortgage bubble. Bush just expanded and added a war to the deficit fun. They’re ALL on the same team.

Werry Tard December 3, 2015 at 8:35 pm

Let’s see…
Bush Sr leaves office…economy is in recession.
Clinton leaves office…huge surplus
Bush Jr leaves office…economy in greatest damage since the Great Depression.
Obama leaves office…economy nearly returned to the pre-GWB ruin.

Now your running another Bush, but have Trump (an economic failure in his own right) as your run away leader? When your reality is a lie dictated to you by frauds things like this happen…over and over.

Not Just Trump December 3, 2015 at 8:44 pm

Don’t worry, all the other losers running are just as economically inept as Trump and the Bush family.

JPR224 December 4, 2015 at 12:04 am

Trump knows exactly what he’s doing because money has been his business for the last 30 years. The buffoons in DC are the problem. All they know is OTHER PEOPLE’S MONEY supporting them.

Werry Tard December 4, 2015 at 11:32 am

Well, that was a stupid statement. Trump would have twice as much money today if he would have just put his inheritance in mutual funds. But by all means, give that guy the nomination. I dare you.

JPR224 December 4, 2015 at 12:03 am

If you really think ANY of the above had direct impact on the nation’s economic growth you know next to nothing about economics.

Bible Thumper December 3, 2015 at 8:52 pm

The most important thing the parties did was nothing. They should be congratulated.

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Werry Tard December 3, 2015 at 8:57 pm

Republicans do nothing. Accomplish nothing…besides shutting down the government for no good reason. Now they are promising to return us all to 2008 if they are elected. Economic ruin is fine as long as my bigotted views are repeated back to me. Right, Thumper?

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Bible Thumper December 3, 2015 at 9:44 pm

“besides shutting down the government for no good reason”
Sometimes, I it’s hard to find a reason for keeping it open. Never had the need for having my views repeated back to me. They never get it right anyway. They should read my comments more carefully before attempting to repeat them.
By the way it’s “begotten views”. Simple spelling error….

What are you scared of? December 3, 2015 at 4:30 pm

Why do people more intelligent than you, intimidate you so much?

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Werry Tard December 3, 2015 at 4:48 pm

I’ll let you know when I come across one.
You used an unnecessary comma, dummy.

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ayy lmao December 3, 2015 at 8:48 pm

More intelligent than anyone? Terry, come on now, why are you running from who, and what, you are?

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+1 December 3, 2015 at 4:48 pm

I applaud you for your all time great troll name. You’ve won the internet for today.

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Werry Tard December 3, 2015 at 4:49 pm

I have no idea what you’re talking about…

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+1000 December 3, 2015 at 4:50 pm

lol…ok, now I have to award you +1000

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Amazing Coincidence December 3, 2015 at 8:46 pm

It’s just icing on the cake that spelling it this way effortlessly spells “tard” as if God himself picked that name for GT.

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Slartibartfast December 3, 2015 at 12:49 pm

When we have an economy that doesn’t depend on unicorns, let me know. Then we can talk.

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Bible Thumper December 3, 2015 at 3:58 pm

What you have a red nosed Reindeer with very shiny nose?

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ImpaledNazarene December 3, 2015 at 4:10 pm

Haha.
I had the most fun following the economy this year. It was full of bearish evidence, but bullish anticipation.

Reply
Honest opinion December 3, 2015 at 5:31 pm

This site seems to suck more and more each day. Nothing but liberals and boredom here, at a time when liberals are suffering their worst branding crisis since Reagan vs Walter Mondale. Do you think delusion is healthy?

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pogo December 3, 2015 at 5:39 pm

Hi, Terry!
Missed you, honey!

Reply
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