NEW YORK (CNN/Money) -
Consumer confidence this week lost momentum, down from its best level in three months after two weeks of solid gains.
The ABC News/Money magazine Consumer Comfort Index stands at -13 on its scale of +100 to -100, compared to -11 the previous week. The index is 10 points off its high for the year of -3 set in early January, and nine points above its low for the year of -22 set in mid-March. The index peaked at +38 in January 2000 and bottomed out at -50 in February 1992. The average has been -9 since it began in December 1985.
The recent decline in consumer confidence could be in part due to record-high gasoline prices, up a dime to $1.94 this week. According to the poll, the index, particularly the buying-climate component, has been sensitive to rising pump prices in the past.
The poll is comprised of Americans' views on the economy, personal finances and the buying climate. Here's a closer look at each of the three components.
Thirty-six percent of Americans say the national economy is in good shape, unchanged from last week and four points below average. Consumer confidence in this category hit its highest, 80 percent, on Jan. 16, 2000, and its lowest, 7 percent, in late 1991 and early 1992.
Americans' confidence in their own finances in unchanged from last week, with 57 percent rating their fiscal health as excellent or good. The highest level of confidence for this category, 70 percent, was set on Aug. 30, 1998, and matched in January 2000. The worst, 42 percent, was set March 14, 1993.
The survey's buying gauge crept upwards, with 40 percent of respondents saying it's an excellent or good time to buy things, up from 38 percent last week. The highest in this category was 57 percent, set on Jan. 16, 2000, and the lowest was 20 percent, set in fall 1990.
Confidence, as usual, is higher among better-off Americans. The index is +19 among higher-income people while -56 among those with the lowest incomes.
Regionally, the index is doing the worst in the Northeast, -21; and there are vast partisan differences as well. Among Republicans it is at +35. It's at -42 among Democrats and -26 among independents.
The ABC News/Money magazine Consumer Comfort Index represents a rolling average based on telephone interviews with a random sample of about 1,000 adults nationwide each month. This week's results are based on 1,000 interviews in the month ending May 9, 2004, and have an error margin of plus or minus three percentage points.
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