The Rochester metro area continued to rank second statewide in overall consumer confidence in the second quarter, the latest quarterly consumer confidence survey by the Siena Research Institute shows.
Overall confidence—which includes current and future confidence—was 78.7, up from 77.6 in the first quarter and 67 a year ago. Current confidence was 80.3, up from 78.8 in the first quarter and 72 in the second quarter last year. Future confidence increased to 77.6 from 76.9 in the first quarter and 63.7 a year ago.
Albany also ranked second in overall confidence in the quarter, behind New York City, which reported overall confidence of 79.3.
“After huge confidence gains in every area during the first quarter, only Albany continued to experience a substantial increase while Buffalo, Mid Hudson and Rochester had modest gains, SRI founding director Douglas Lonnstrom said.
Overall confidence among Buffalo consumers improved to 72.2 in the second quarter from 70.8 in the first quarter and 62.2 a year ago. Current confidence fell to 79.6 from 80.7 in the first quarter, but was up from 70.5 a year ago.
Syracuse area confidence fell to 68.6 in the second quarter from 71.3 in the first quarter and 64.3 a year ago. Current confidence was 71.6, compared with 76.6 in the first quarter and 70.9 a year ago. Future confidence fell to 66.7 in the second quarter from 67.9 in the first quarter, but was up from 60.1 in the second quarter last year.
Buying plans among Rochester area consumers were down in all categories, including vehicles, computers, furniture, homes and major home improvements. while consumer confidence is reported as an index number, buying plans reflect the percentage of respondents who plan specific spending patterns in the next six months, SRI noted.
The SRI index measures people’s willingness to spend, rather than their ability to spend.
(c) 2012 Rochester Business Journal. To obtain permission to reprint this article, call 585-546-8303 or e-mail service@rbj.net.
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