For Immediate Release May 5, 2007
Contact: Cristi Allen
callen@decisionanalyst.com
Phone: 817-640-6166

Arlington, Texas (May 5, 2007)—The U.S. economy is weakening, as indicated by the steady decline in the Decision Analyst Economic Index over the past six months. The Index has fallen from a high of 114 in October 2006 to 108 in April 2007. If the Index continues to decline, the pace of economic growth will slow in coming months and it’s quite possible that the U.S. economy will fall into recession before year end. Here is the U.S. Economic Index for the past year.

“Consumers are becoming more pessimistic about the economy because of increasing energy costs and rising interest rates,” said Jerry W. Thomas, President and CEO of Decision Analyst, the marketing research and marketing consulting firm that conducts the survey and derives the Economic Index. “While business activity appears to be holding up reasonably well at the present, and employment trends are positive, concerns about rising prices and inflation are clearly major factors driving the Economic Index lower.”

Among the components that make up the Economic Index, the indicators that appear to be driving the Economic Index downward are concerns about the “prices paid for goods and services” (negative 13 points), “corporate hiring” (down 7 points), and “consumer purchase intent” (down 3 points).

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 typically conducted between the 20th and 27th of each month. The Index is 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 Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, Colombia, France, Germany, India, Italy, Mexico, Netherlands, Peru, Russian Federation, United Kingdom, and Venezuela. 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 slow-growth economy, and below 100 generally indicates economic contraction. These guidelines vary by country, however.

About Decision Analyst

Decision Analyst (www.decisionanalyst.com) 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-based consumer-opinion panels, with more than seven million members.

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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