HIGH POINT, N.C., March 7, 2012 – High Point University announced today that a new Consumer Sentiment Index based on HPU Poll data shows that North Carolinians’ have more optimism toward both their personal finances and U.S. business conditions than they have in the last two years.
The Consumer Sentiment Index rose to almost 75 (74.97) based on the most recent HPU Poll. That is the highest that the HPU Poll has registered since it began fielding the questions in February 2010. Recent readings included 67.57 for March 2011 fielding and 59.88 for September 2011. The new, higher reading was driven by increases across the board in North Carolinian’s assessments of their personal finances and business conditions in the country as a whole.
“The attitudes reflected in the index show that North Carolinians are feeling somewhat better about their circumstances and the outlook for businesses,” says Gerald Fox, an associate professor of Economics in HPU’s Phillips School of Business. “That is a positive sign that is likely driven by a declining unemployment rate. A full recovery in consumer optimism, however, is still many months away.”
The new index models its questions on the national Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan Surveys of Consumers (http://www.sca.isr.umich.edu/). The HPU Poll plans to field the questions at least once per semester in order to gauge consumer feelings on economic conditions.
“This is an exciting new use of the data we generate at the HPU Poll,” says Sadie Leder, assistant director of the HPU Poll. “We will continue to track how North Carolinians feel about their personal finances as well as many other aspects of the economy. It is part of the public service the HPU Poll provides for North Carolina.”
The Consumer Sentiment Index is based on five questions that ask respondents about their current financial situation compared to a year ago, likely financial situation a year from now, business conditions a year from now, general economic trends five years into the future, and whether now is a good time to purchase major items for their homes. The full question wordings are available on the HPU Poll website at http://src.highpoint.edu/index.php/hpu-poll
The High Point University Survey Research Center fielded the survey from Feb.19-23 and Feb. 25-28. The responses came from 384 adults with landline and cellular telephones in North Carolina selected by a Random Digit Dial (RDD) method giving the survey a margin of sampling error of approximately 5 percentage points. For smaller subsamples the margin of sampling error is larger. In addition to sampling error, factors such as question wording and other methodological choices in conducting survey research can introduce additional error into the findings of opinion
polls.
Further results and methodological details from the survey and can be found at the Survey Research Center website, http://src.highpoint.edu/, or from Dr. Martin Kifer, the center’s director, at [email protected] or 336-841-9333.
You can follow the HPU Poll on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/SurveyResearchCenter and Twitter at http://twitter.com/HPUSurveyCenter
At High Point University, every student receives an extraordinary education in an inspiring environment with caring people.℠ HPU, located in the Piedmont Triad region of North Carolina, is a liberal arts institution with over 4,200 undergraduate and graduate students at campuses in High Point and Winston-Salem. It is ranked by US News and World Report at No. 3 among Regional Colleges in the South. Parade Magazine lists HPU in the top 25 private schools in the nation. HPU was selected in the 2010-2011 list of “Colleges of Distinction,” as well as one of the top green schools in the country by the Sierra Club. The university offers 44 undergraduate majors, 40 undergraduate minors and 10 graduate degree programs. It is a member of the NCAA, Division I and the Big South Conference. Visit High Point University on the Web at highpoint.edu.
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Pam Haynes
Communication Specialist
336-841-9055
[email protected]