US: Economic confidence weakens - Still in positive territory

The latest report released by the IBD/TIPP revealed that Economic Optimism Index declined 3.6 points, or 6.5%, in April, posting a reading of 51.7 vs. 55.3 in March 2017.

Key findings

• The Six-Month Economic Outlook, a measure of how consumers feel about the economy’s prospects in the next six months, declined 2.5 points, or 4.7%, to 51.1.  The sub-index was 32.1 when the economy entered the last recession in December 2007.
• The Personal Financial Outlook, a measure of how Americans feel about their own finances in the next six months decreased 1.3 points, or 2.1%, to 61.3.
• Confidence in Federal Economic Policies, a proprietary IBD/TIPP measure of views on how government economic policies are working, dropped 7.0 points, or 14.1%, to 42.6.

“Despite a little weakness in confidence compared to previous months, our index continues to be in optimistic territory.   Americans are optimistic that President Donald Trump will deliver on his promises to cut taxes and lessen regulations which are likely to boost U.S. employment and grow the economy.  Fifty-two percent believe that the economy is improving,” said Raghavan Mayur, president of TechnoMetrica, IBD's polling partner.