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Press Release Archives | U.S. Census Division
Economic Indices
For Immediate Release
March 8, 2010
Contact: Cristi Allen
callen@decisionanalyst.com
Phone: 817-640-6166
U.S. Economic Recovery Inching Along—Decision
Analyst’s
February Economic Index Sees Slight Increase
Arlington, Texas—Decision Analyst’s U.S. Economic Index increased
one point to 95 in February 2010 from an Index of 94 in January 2010. Since
this Index tends to lead the U.S. economy by nine to 12 months, the Economic
Index continues to predict a weak recovery during 2010. Below is the Economic
Index for the past three years.
“While the U.S. Economic Index is off its lows, the U.S.
is still experiencing tough economic conditions," said Jerry W. Thomas,
President/CEO of Decision Analyst. “Many small businesses in the U.S.
have no access, or limited access, to credit and bank loans, and this is making
the nascent recovery slow and fragile. U.S. consumers continue to struggle with
high debt loads, high unemployment, salary cuts, and reduced access to credit.
Consumers are slowly regaining some confidence, as evidenced by a slight increase
in planned purchases of durable goods in 2010.”
The West North Central, West South Central, East South Central, and New England
divisions appear to be doing better than the rest of the U.S. The Pacific and
Middle Atlantic divisions are comparatively weak. (See regional map below.)
| Three-Year History By Census
Division |
The Mountain division is trending upwards, increasing from 91 in December 2009
to 93 in February 2010. The Middle Atlantic has been trending downward, decreasing
from 95 in December 2009 to 92 in February 2010. The Pacific division has also
seen a gradual decline from 94 in December 2009 to 92 in February 2010. The
Indices of the New England, West North Central, and West South Central divisions
have remained relatively stable for the past three months.
Census Division Three-Month Moving Average
The Index numbers for the census divisions are a three-month moving average
to smooth out fluctuations due to smaller sample sizes. The reported Index number
averages the current month with the two previous months.
Methodology
The Decision Analyst Economic Index is based on a monthly Internet survey of
several thousand households balanced by gender, age, and geography. The online
survey is conducted the last 10 days of each month. The Economic Index is calculated
from nine different economic measurements using a sophisticated econometric
model. The result is a snapshot of current economic activity in each country
surveyed, as seen through the eyes of representative consumers living in the
respective countries. Decision Analyst conducts its concurrent economic surveys
each month in Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, Colombia,
France, Germany, India, Italy, Mexico, Netherlands, Peru, Russian Federation,
Spain, United Kingdom, United States, 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 analytical consulting firm specializing in advertising testing, strategy
research, new product development, and advanced modeling for marketing decision
optimization. The 31-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 eight
million members.
For additional information contact:
Cristi Allen
Publicity
Email: callen@decisionanalyst.com
Phone: 1-800-ANALYSIS (262-5974) or 1-817-640-6166
Address: 604 Avenue H East
Arlington, TX 76011
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