Contact: Harriet Laird
STARKVILLE, Miss.--Mississippi State today is announcing the operation of a new online business forecasting report.
Titled "Economy Watch" and maintained by the university's College of Business, the service will track the national and state economies throughout each quarter.
The program was developed in collaboration with BankPlus to take the place of the Mississippi Index of Consumer Sentiment, which was produced for many years by the State Institution of Higher Learning's university research center department for forecast and analysis.
"In keeping with our commitment to the communities we serve, our goal is for Economy Watch to become a trusted source for relevant, up-to-date and actionable information for Mississippi business professionals," said William A. Ray, BankPlus president and chief executive officer.
Rebecca Campbell Smith of MSU's department of finance and economics said the high-tech Survey Research Laboratory, a unit of MSU's nationally recognized Social Science Research Center, will gather the data through more than 500 telephone interviews conducted regularly with residents of diverse households around the state.
"Measures of consumer sentiment have proved to be accurate indicators of the future course of the economy and also influence investors," she explained. "The MICS measurement tool surveys consumer perspectives on current and expected conditions in personal finance, business climate and buying conditions."
Smith said Mississippi consumers have significantly lower confidence than before the recession, but are significantly more confident that the rest of the nation.
In addition, some 70 percent of Mississippians plan on saving over the next six months, Smith said.
In future EW reports, a panel of corporate chief executive officers and other leaders will help MSU researchers track business confidence levels around the Magnolia State. Also planned is an "Ask an Economist" section.
Access to the EW Web site may be completed at www.economywatch.msstate.edu.
Inquiries should be sent to economywatch@msstate.edu.
NEWS EDITORS/DIRECTORS: For additional information, contact Dr. Smith at 662-325-7473 or bcampbell@cobilan.msstate.edu or Kristin Allen with BankPlus at 601-898-8312.
For more information about Mississippi State University, see http://www.msstate.edu/.