SIENA RESEARCH INSTITUTE
SIENA COLLEGE,
LOUDONVILLE, NY
For
Immediate Release: Tuesday, January 6, 2004
Fourth Quarter
Consumer Confidence for Major NYS Cities:
New York City (79.3) Rockets
Up 10 points to 2nd Place Overall
Albany (87.6) Continues to Lead State in
Current, Future and Overall Confidence
Overall Confidence up Everywhere except Syracuse
Current Confidence up in Albany and NYC, Down in Binghamton, Buffalo
& Syracuse
Future confidence up everywhere
View the Microsoft Word version
Loudonville,
NY – New York City jumped 9.1 points in current
confidence and 10.5 points in future confidence in the last quarter of
2003, according to the latest Quarterly Consumer Confidence survey
released today by the Siena (College) Research Institute (SRI). At 87.6, Albany continues to have the highest consumer confidence
in New York State.
|
SRI
has been following quarterly consumer confidence trends by metropolitan
statistical area (MSA) since the 4th quarter of 2001 – the quarter
in which the 9/11 attacks rocked New York City, the State, the nation and the
world. After clear drops in consumer confidence in the year that followed, most regions of the state – except for Syracuse and Buffalo – have rebounded a bit. In
one year (since the 4th quarter of 2002), among the 6 regions SRI
tracks for overall consumer confidence: -Albany went up 3.3 points
and remained #1 -Rochester went up1.5 points
and remained #3 -NYC went up 11 points
and moved up from #5 to #2 -Binghamton went up 8.6 points
and moved up from #6 to #5 -Syracuse went down 6.1
points and
moved down from
#2 to #4 -Buffalo went down 5.4
points and moved down from #4 to #6 |
|
|
Overall confidence is up: 2.0
pts in Albany to 87.6 (#1) 10.0
points in NYC to 79.3 (#2) 3.0
pts in Rochester to 78.1 (#3) 1.3
pts in Binghamton to 71.7 (#5) 0.1
of a point in Buffalo to 71.1 (#6) |
Current confidence is up: 3.8
pts in Albany to 97.0 (#1) 9.1
pts in NYC to 76.9 (#6) Rochester
remained at 88.7 (#2) |
Future confidence is up: 0.7 of a point in Albany
to 81.5 (#1) 10.5 pts in NYC to 80.8
(#2) 4.9
pts in Rochester to 71.3 (#3) 0.5 of a point in Syracuse
to 66.9 (#4) 2.5 pts in Binghamton to
65.0 (#5) 1.7 pts in Buffalo to 62.5
(#6) |
|
Overall confidence is down: 1.7
points in Syracuse to 73.9 (#4) |
Current confidence is down: 4.9
pts in Syracuse to 84.9 (#3) 2.3
pts in Buffalo to 84.5 (#4) 0.4
of a pt in Binghamton to 82.2 (#5) |
Future confidence is down: Nowhere. |
While
Consumer Confidence is reported as an index number, the buying plans
portion of the survey reflects the percentage of respondents who plan specific
expenditures in the next six months. Buying plans for the fourth quarter varied
greatly from city to city:
Siena Research Institute
4th Quarter Consumer Confidence, by MSA
Tuesday, January 6, 2004
Page 2 of 2
Buying Plans: 4th Quarter 2003, by MSA
|
||||||
|
|
Albany |
Binghamton |
Buffalo |
NYC |
Rochester |
Syracuse |
Car/Truck |
14.1% |
15.4% |
11.7% |
17.0% |
12.4% |
14.9% |
|
Computer |
12.4% |
9.0% |
11.7% |
21.5% |
11.0% |
13.4% |
|
Furniture |
18.2% |
13.2% |
19.7% |
29.1% |
14.1% |
14.9% |
|
Home |
3.6% |
5.1% |
6.6% |
9.9% |
4.9% |
3.4% |
|
Maj. Home Improvement |
25.5% |
24.9% |
20.9% |
17.8% |
17.3% |
21.7% |
|
The intent of the Consumer Confidence
Index is to measure peoples’ willingness to spend, as opposed to their
ability to spend. The six MSA’s studied - Albany, Binghamton, Buffalo,
New York City, Rochester, and Syracuse - are profiled in an attempt to
provide regional measures of the state’s economic health. “The ripple effect of the financial industry is enormous,” notes Dr. Douglas
Lonnstrom, Siena College professor of finance and statistics and SRI
Director. “The stock market had a good fourth quarter; the result is that
consumer confidence shot up ten points in New York City alone. Future confidence is up in every city.” |
|
The SRI survey was conducted by random telephone calls to adults over the age of 18. The New York City index is based on an average of SRI’s monthly consumer confidence surveys. Each of the other metro area indexes is based on over 400 respondents. For more information or comment, please contact SRI Director Dr. Douglas Lonnstrom at 727-939-3774. Survey Cross-tabs and frequencies for the consumer confidence of each metro area can be found on the Internet at: www.siena.edu/sri.
