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Consumer confidence dips
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December 19, 2001: 7:22 a.m. ET
ABC/Money poll shows Americans are unsure about personal finances.
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NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - Americans' confidence in their financial situation continued to erode following Sept. 11, according to a poll released Wednesday.
For the month ended Dec. 16, 58 percent of Americans said their finances are in good shape, down from 62 percent last week and 67 percent in February, according to a poll conducted by ABC News and Money magazine. It's the lowest level for confidence since December 1997.
Although views of personal finance are declining, perceptions of the economy are even bleaker.
Of the 1,031 adults polled, 37 percent believe the U.S. economy is in excellent or good shape, representing a 34 percentage point decline throughout 2001. The perception of the economy has stabilized since mid-October, however.
Despite sluggish consumer confidence, views of the buying climate remain relatively robust, as 46 percent of those polled say now is a good time to make purchases.
Positive ratings of the buying climate are three points better than the average in 2001 and eight points off the low of the year.
The ABC News/Money magazine Consumer Comfort Index, a compilation of the perceptions of the economy, personal finance, and buying environment, came in at -6 on a scale of +100 to -100, a three-point decline from last week and the lowest level since March 1997.
The index has been in a range of -2 to -6 since mid-October.
The ABC News/Money magazine poll represents a rolling average based on telephone interviews of about 1,000 adults nationwide each month. The margin of error is plus or minus three percentage points. 
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