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As a professional, you know that your sales strategies are only as good as the facts that support them. The Conference Board's Consumer Research Center (CRC) pulls together data from dozens of sources, analyzes it and puts it together in formats that you can use. CRC produces the Consumer Confidence Index, Measure of Business Confidence and a full library of consumer information for busy professionals.

CRC economists monitor major demographic trends and anticipate changes in the consumer marketplace. Our subscribers have immediate access to demographic information, analyses, special reports and forecasts that help in day-to-day decision-making and long-term planning.

		The Consumer Confidence Survey
		Business Executives’ Expectations
		Consumer Market Guide
		Discretionary Income
		Consumer Expenditure
		Demographic Information Service
		Emerging Markets
		Research Reports
		Special Surveys
		Consumer Market Watch
		Forecasters’ Forecasts

The Latest Press Release

Consumer Confidence Retreats in August

Aug-29-2000

The Conference Board's Consumer Confidence Index dipped moderately in August, after rebounding in July.

The Index now stands at 141.1 (1985=100), down from 143.0 in July. The Present Situation Index declined from 186.8 to 183.4, while the Expectations Index also fell, from 113.7 to 113.0.

The Consumer Confidence Index is based on a representative sample of 5,000 U.S. households. The monthly survey is conducted for The Conference Board by NFO Research Inc., an NFO Worldwide Company and member of The Interpublic Group of Companies (NYSE: IPG).

CONFIDENCE LEVEL MAY HAVE PLATEAUED

"Recent fluctuations may indicate that confidence levels have reached a plateau, and a cooling in spending habits may well be on the horizon," says Lynn Franco, Director of The Conference Board's Consumer Research Center. "Despite the decline in confidence, consumers' attitudes about future economic growth prospects remain upbeat."

Consumers' assessment of current conditions was mixed. The percentage of survey participants that felt business conditions were "good" rose to 46.3 percent from 45.4 percent last month. Those rating conditions as "bad" climbed to 8.3 percent from 7.3 percent. Consumers claiming jobs were "hard to get" increased to 10.6 percent from 9.6 percent in July.

The short-term outlook was also mixed. The percentage of survey participants expecting an improvement in business conditions during the next six months improved slightly to 17.4 percent from 17.2 percent in the previous survey. Those expecting conditions to worsen fell to 5.5 percent from 6.1 percent. But the job outlook was less upbeat than in July. The proportion of consumers expecting more jobs to become available in the coming months declined to 16.8 percent from 17.6 percent in July. Those expecting fewer jobs to become available rose to 11.2 percent from 10.2 percent. Income prospects were more optimistic than in the prior survey. Currently, 27.9 percent of respondents anticipate an increase in their income, up from 26.4 percent in July.

CRC Membership Benefits:
The Consumer Confidence Survey A monthly report detailing consumer attitudes and buying intentions. Data are available by age, income and for the nine U.S. census regions.	Business Executives’ Expectations A quarterly report tracking business executive's outlook on the economy. Latest Press Release
Consumer Market Guide A comprehensive collection of U.S. and global statistics. The Guide gives you historical, current and projected consumer trends in all areas of the economy.	Discretionary Income A picture of the upscale market by income, age, size of household, number and type of earners, education, occupation, region, metropolitan area, race, and home ownership.
Consumer Expenditures Household expenditures for hundreds of consumer goods and services, detailed according to economic and social characteristics. Data are available on a national level, as well as by regions, metropolitan areas, and zip code levels.	Demographic Information Service Detailed reports based on the Census Bureau's annual survey of 60,000 households. The reports are cross-tabulated by age, household type, household size, children, earners, income, education, occupation, home ownership, region, and race.
Emerging Markets Reports on developing economies. Each report gives you valuable information about a nation's past, present and future growth prospects.	Research Reports In-depth reports on diverse segments of the market. Each report shows the present dimensions and anticipated growth of key market segments.
Special Surveys Periodic surveys of thousands of U.S. households on special topics and issues. A particularly valuable report on consumer buying intentions as the Christmas shopping season approaches has become an annual tradition.	Consumer Market Watch A continuous tracking of over 85 major consumer economic indicators. Forecasters’ Forecasts A survey of the latest business outlook from a broad spectrum of the nation’s leading economic organizations.

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