CONSUMER SENTIMENT TRACKER
Keep tabs on consumer confidence.
The newly refreshed Numerator Consumer Sentiment Tracker provides a monthly view of consumer confidence, spending & saving considerations, and future financial outlook. The tracker is powered by a continuous survey to our consumer panel capturing over 6,000 responses each month.
Latest Update: 12/2/2024
Consumer Confidence Score
Consumer confidence held steady in November, with consistent levels of comfort across the board. Households reported small increases in job market confidence, confidence in their ability to make ends meet and with non-essential spending. Overall sentiment is within one point of last month and last year.
- Job Market Score: 39% of consumers think it’s very or somewhat easy to find employment in the current job market, in line with last month but down from 43% last year.
- Household Finances Score: 48% of consumers say their household’s financial situation is currently good or very good, up slightly from 47% last month.
- Spending Comfort Score: 40% of consumers are very or somewhat comfortable spending money on discretionary purchases right now, in-line with last month.
CONSUMER CONFIDENCE SCORE
56.2
+0.2 vs. Last Month
- Consumer Confidence Score: Average of the other three scores
- Job Market Score: Weighted average of responses to the question, “How easy or difficult do you believe it is to find employment in the current job market?” Respondents could answer along a five-point scale from “Very easy” to “Very difficult.”
- Household Finances Score: Weighted average of responses to the question, “How would you describe your household’s financial situation (ability to make ends meet)?” Respondents could answer along a five-point scale from “Very good” to “Very poor.”
- Spending Comfort Score: Weighted average of responses to the question, “How comfortable are you with spending money on discretionary purchases/non-essential items right now?” Respondents could answer along a five-point scale from “Very comfortable” to “Very uncomfortable.”
Spending & Saving Considerations
Over a third of consumers saved their spare cash in November or used it to pay down debts. The next most popular options were vacation/travel, home repair/improvement, and investing. Consumers continue looking for ways to save, as well—they’re shopping on sale, using coupons/discount codes when possible, and cooking at home.
Financial Outlook Score
Consumers feel good about their future finances, with financial outlook in November jumping to the highest levels seen in the past three years. This month’s growth over last was driven by many groups, especially Boomers (+8.3 pts) and White shoppers (+7.8 pts), who have consistently felt the most negative. At the same time, Gen Z (-1 pt) and Black shoppers (-3.8 pts) both saw declines, though they remain some of the most optimistic groups overall, now on-par with Millennials and Hispanics. Thinking about one year from now, 34% of shoppers think their finances will be better than they are now, 47% think they’ll be the same, and 19% think they’ll be worse.
FINANCIAL OUTLOOK SCORE
57.4
+5.1 vs. Last Month
- Financial Outlook Score: Weighted average of responses to the question, “Thinking of the next 12 months, how do you expect your household’s finances will compare to now?” Respondents could answer either “Better,” “Same,” or “Worse.”
About the tracker
Numerator’s Consumer Sentiment Tracker combines data from three ongoing Microsurveys—brief surveys (three questions or less) fielded on a rolling basis to our entire consumer panel. The surveys collect over 6,000 responses per month, and their abbreviated nature ensures high participation rates and fresh, reliable data each month.
Looking for our past consumer sentiment data?
An alternate version of the Numerator Consumer Sentiment Survey was fielded to a smaller subset of US consumers each month between June 2022 & December 2023. This version of the study has now ended, but historical views including COVID sentiment can be found by downloading the 2022–2023 recap report.
