California didn’t go for President Donald Trump, but one consumer confidence index suggests the state’s shoppers are seeing opportunities from his administration.
The Conference Board’s consumer confidence index for California rose in January to its highest level since May 2007 and was 10 percent higher than the index average for all of 2016. Trump won the White House in a November upset over Hillary Clinton, who easily won California.
Californians’ bolstered confidence as Trump took office is tied to positive thoughts on the business climate and an overall upbeat outlook.
The Conference Board survey found Californians rated current economic conditions as the second best in nine years. Only December 2016 scored higher. And California’s outlook for the economic future drew the highest rating since the index started in 2007.
Confidence has largely been on the upswing since the recession ended, but renewed optimism should be good news for local merchants and those who profit from retail spending. But that same surge in consumer hope also raises the performance bar for the new president.
Nationally, confidence is lofty, but it dipped from last month. Consumer confidence fell in January, off December’s 15-year high. Minus December, the latest index was at a 10-year high.
“The decline in confidence was driven solely by a less optimistic outlook for business conditions, jobs, and especially consumers’ income prospects,” wrote the Conference Board’s Lynn Franco.
Five of the other seven states tracked by the board started the year with a confidence bump, with all seven posting January confidence levels above the 2016 average.
New York’s confidence was up for the fourth straight month, with its index 12 percent above 2016. Florida rose for the third consecutive month to a January level 10 percent above 2016.
Illinois also rose for three straight months, putting its index 11 percent above 2016’s average. Ohio was up for the second time in three months, putting its confidence 10 percent above 2016. Pennsylvania rose for the first time since the election. Its index is 23 percent above 2016.
Texas fell after five months of consecutive gains, but its index is still 18 percent above last year’s average. And Michigan fell after three months of gains as confidence in January ran 15 percent above last year’s average.
California’s high consumer confidence also was reflected in another shopper optimism ranking by Gallup.
In Gallup’s ranking, California tied Hawaii, Maryland and Washington for the second-highest confidence scores. Massachusetts had the best score. For 2015, California also ranked second, behind Minnesota.
Perhaps Gallup’s 2016 confidence math helps explain the presidential election results: The 10 states with the most optimism went for Clinton. The 10 most pessimistic states went for Trump.
Contact the writer: jlansner@scng.com
Our editors found this article on this site using Google and regenerated it for our readers.
