Although Numerator’s Consumer Sentiment Tracker detected a slip in consumer confidence in January, a substantial proportion of consumers are still comfortable with discretionary spending and managing household finances by cooking at home and searching out deals more often.
Consumer confidence decreased in January, down 1.4% from December, to reach 56.4 as an average of how consumers feel about the job market, their household finances and their spending comfort levels. The over-50 score demonstrates a positive consumer outlook overall.
Although the figure slipped two points, 41% of consumers still felt very or somewhat comfortable spending money on discretionary purchases.
As for their view on the job market, 36% of consumers said they think it’s very or somewhat easy to find employment, down two points from December. Then, 49% of consumers said their household finances are in good or very good shape, down two points from the month earlier.
To save money as they manage their finances, consumers are shopping for items on sale, selected by 41%; cooking at home, by 40%; and using coupons/discount codes, at 40%. Consumers with spare cash said they’re putting it in savings, selected by 38%, and paying down debts, by 33%, while 11% of consumers said they don’t have any spare cash.
Numerator’s Financial Outlook Score was up a tenth of a point from December to 56.6, a slight gain and a figure that supports the conclusion that consumers generally feel fairly positive about their household finances. In looking forward to a year from now, 32% of consumers think their finances will be better than they are now, 49% think they’ll be the same, and 19% think they’ll be worse.
