For Immediate Release July 6, 2004
Contact: Cristi Allen
callen@decisionanalyst.com
Phone: 817-640-6166

Arlington, Texas – Just a month after suffering its worst fall in three years, Decision Analyst’s U.S. Economic Index has bounced back. The overall Index regained the five points lost in May to reach 111 in June. The main reason was recovering confidence in price stability as gasoline prices eased.

“May’s substantial fall in confidence was a great cause for concern, so it’s with some relief that we see the Index recovering this month” said Jerry W. Thomas, President and CEO of Decision Analyst, a marketing research and marketing consulting firm. “Until we got this month’s figures, no one could really tell if the drop was the start of a big decline in consumer optimism or just a blip. It looks now like it was just a sharp reaction to soaring gas prices, which are now, thankfully, on the slide.”

The June Economic Index reflected a very slight fall in reported business activity, although corporate hiring rose moderately. Confidence in the stock market saw a welcome rise, reaching a scaled 130, the highest level since February. Consumer future purchase intent for major durables was also up, recovering most of the losses from May.

“It’s likely that consumers are still in a jittery mood,” Thomas says. “The quick bounce back in confidence indicates how closely American households are following gasoline prices and other economic indicators.”

Methodology

The Decision Analyst Economic Index is based on a monthly Internet survey of several thousand households balanced by gender, age, and geography. The survey is conducted during the last 10 days of each month, and the Index is immediately calculated from nine different economic measurements, using a sophisticated econometric model. The result is a snapshot of current U.S. economic activity, as seen through the eyes of representative consumers. Decision Analyst also conducts concurrent economic surveys in Canada, the U.K., Germany, France, Italy, Netherlands, Mexico and Australia. Whenever the Decision Analyst Economic Index is greater than 110, it tends to signal an expanding economy. An Index value of 100 to 110 suggests a stagnant economy, and below 100 generally indicates economic contraction. These guidelines vary by country, however.

About Decision Analyst

Decision Analyst, Inc. is a leading marketing research and marketing consulting firm specializing in advertising testing, strategy research, new product development, and advanced modeling for marketing decision optimization. The firm delivers competitive advantage to clients throughout the world in the consumer packaged goods, telecommunications, retail, high technology, medical and pharmaceutical, utilities, and e-commerce industries. Decision Analyst operates American Consumer Opinion® Online, one of the world's largest Internet consumer opinion panels, with more than 3.5 million participants.

For additional information contact:
Cristi Allen
Publicity
Email: callen@decisionanalyst.com
Phone: 1.800.ANALYSIS (262.5974)
Address: 604 Avenue H East
Arlington, TX 76011

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