Contact: Harriet Laird
STARKVILLE, Miss.--Second-quarter results from the Mississippi Index of Consumer Sentiment show an overall 5.47 percent increase, according to a new online business forecasting report.
"Economy Watch," produced quarterly by Mississippi State's College of Business, is reporting that overall confidence rose to 76.42 percent for April-June, compared to 72.46 percent for the first quarter.
Based on data collected by the university's Survey Research Laboratory, the more than 530 individuals responded to the latest economic survey "represent a statistically significant sample of Mississippians' consumer confidence," said EW editor Rebecca Campbell Smith.
Smith, an instructor in the business college, said the index has two components, one focusing on current conditions and the other on future condition expectations for a year or more from now.
"Most of the gains in the index stem from an 11.04 percent increased confidence in current conditions, compared to a 3.95 percent increase in the future expectations," she added.
"Twenty-first Century Jobs" is the theme of the second quarter report. Maximizing employability throughout life, job projections through 2018 and the importance of additional education and skill developments are among other featured articles in the edition.
The survey laboratory that collects the information is a unit of MSU's nationally recognized Social Science Research Center.
When compared to the rest of the nation, Mississippi "matches the high confidence in current conditions, but is far more optimistic about the future than the rest of the nation," Smith noted.
Other significant points in the report include:
--Second-quarter condition results stand at 73.03 percent, compared to 65.77 for the first quarter of the year. Future conditions for the second quarter are calculated at 78.60 over the first quarter results of 75.61.
--The employment segment shows those who are self-employed to be much less optimistic about current and future conditions, while those unemployed are very pessimistic, but strongly optimistic about the future.
--Younger respondents say they remain more optimistic overall because of higher future expectations.
"Measures of consumer sentiment have proved to be accurate indicators of the future course of the economy and also influence investors," Smith said.
Developed earlier this year in collaboration with Mississippi-based BankPlus, Economy Watch is replacing economic forecasting and analysis programs previously maintained by the State Institutions of Higher Learning's university research center.
The complete second-quarter edition of Economy Watch may be accessed at www.economywatch.msstate.edu.
Inquiries should be sent to economywatch@msstate.edu.
NEWS EDITORS/DIRECTORS: For additional comments, contact Dr. Smith at 662-325-7473 or bcampbell@cobilan.msstate.edu; or Kristen Allen with BankPlus at 601-898-8312.
For more information about Mississippi State University, see http://www.msstate.edu/.