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Consumer confidence in the Washington, D.C. area has improved since July, reversing a year-long decline in the region’s optimism toward the economy, according to the Greater Washington Board of Trade. The consumer confidence index, which measures the degree of optimism that consumers feel about their personal finances and the economy, increased by roughly 6 percent between July and December in D.C. and the suburbs of Maryland and Virginia, the board reported on Monday.
The increase bodes well for holiday sales, following a decline by ten percentage points in the region’s consumer confidence levels between June 2010 and July 2011, said Jim Dinegar, president and CEO of the board, a nonpartisan group representing local businesses.
| Consumer Confidence Index | ||||||||
| Date | Maryland | Virginia | D.C. | Entire region | ||||
| December 2011 | 54 | 54 | 62 | 55 | ||||
| July 2011 | 52 | 47 | 66 | 52 | ||||
| December 2010 | 57 | 55 | 66 | 58 | ||||
| June 2010 | 62 | 61 | 65 | 62 | ||||
| November 2009 | 58 | 55 | 67 | 60 | ||||
| April 2009 | 56 | 54 | 59 | 56 | ||||
| December 2008 | 53 | 46 | 51 | 49 | ||||
“There’s a pent up demand for things that people want and have put off buying for a couple years while the economy is recovering,” Dinegar said.
Six in 10 people plan to spend the same or more than they spent last year during the holiday season, according to the survey. Consumers are also slightly more willing this year to make a large purchase, such as a car, a television or a computer.
Economist Michael Niemiera said the findings are consistent with national consumer confidence surveys.
“The study seems consistent with other surveys, but also with the broader flavor of national economic numbers, which have started to show a little bit more improvement — though not dramatically,” said Niemiera, director of research and chief economist for the International Council of Shopping Centers.
Also supporting the survey’s findings, the National Retail Federation is expecting a 3.8 percent uptick in holiday spending this season compared to last. By comparison, year-over-year spending has increased by an average of 2.6 percent over the last 10 years.
The survey found greater gains in consumers’ positivity about the economy among suburban Maryland residents than in D.C. and Northern Virginia. Consumers’ optimism about the current state of the economy jumped 9 percentage points in Maryland, but stayed roughly the same in Virginia and D.C.
Dinegar attributed the disparity to “the potential shutdown of the government, congressional deadlock, failure of the supercommittee and the overall specter of deep cuts in government spending.”
