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For Immediate Release September 4, 2008
Contact: Cristi Allen
callen@decisionanalyst.com
Phone: 817-640-6166

Arlington, Texas (September 4, 2008)— After four months at 88, Decision Analyst’s U.S. Economic Index finally moved upward, increasing slightly to 90 in August. The chart below shows the U.S. Economic Index for the past 13 months.

Decision Analyst U.S. Economic Index
For The Past 13 Months

“The fact that the Economic Index has remained essentially constant for five months in a row suggests that the current recession might be bottoming out. It will take many months for the economy to regain momentum, but it’s encouraging to see the downward trend leveling out,” said Jerry W. Thomas, President/CEO of Decision Analyst. “The housing industry, the construction industry, the banking industry, and the automotive industry still face daunting challenges and many months of red ink, but perhaps we are seeing a tiny light at the end of the tunnel. The Federal Reserve must begin to raise interest rates and constrain the money supply to prevent runaway inflation,” said Thomas. “Uncontrolled inflation is the greatest risk to the U.S. economy over the next two years.”

The largest negative factors in the August Economic Index were weak job availability, lack of job security for those who are employed, waning “consumer purchase intent” for major purchases, and concerns about inflation (rising costs of goods and services).

Methodology

The Decision Analyst Economic Index is based on a monthly Internet survey of several thousand households balanced by gender, age, and geography. The survey is typically conducted in the last 10 days of each month. The Index is calculated from nine different economic measurements, using a sophisticated econometric model. The result is a snapshot of current U.S. economic activity, as seen through the eyes of representative consumers. Decision Analyst also conducts concurrent economic surveys in Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, Colombia, France, Germany, India, Italy, Mexico, Netherlands, Peru, Russian Federation, United Kingdom, and Venezuela. Whenever the Decision Analyst Economic Index is greater than 110, it tends to signal an expanding economy. An Index value of 100 to 110 suggests a slow-growth economy, and near or below 100 generally indicates economic contraction. These guidelines vary by country, however.

About Decision Analyst

Decision Analyst (www.decisionanalyst.com) is a leading global marketing research and marketing consulting firm specializing in advertising testing, strategy research, new product development, and advanced modeling for marketing decision optimization. The 30-year-old firm delivers competitive advantage to clients throughout the world in the consumer packaged goods, telecommunications, retail, technology, medical and pharmaceutical industries. In addition, Decision Analyst owns and operates the American Consumer Opinion® Online panel, one of the largest consumer opinion panels in the world—with more than 7 million members.

For additional information contact:
Cristi Allen
Publicity
Email: callen@decisionanalyst.com
Phone: 1.800.ANALYSIS (262.5974)
Address: 604 Avenue H East
Arlington, TX 76011

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