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For Immediate Release
September 2, 2010
Contact: Cristi Allen
callen@decisionanalyst.com
Phone: 817-640-6166

Arlington, Texas—The Decision Analyst Economic Index for the U.S. registered 95 in August 2010, a one-point increase from 94 in July 2010. Since the Decision Analyst Economic Index tends to foreshadow the U.S. economy by six to 12 months, it continues to indicate that economic growth will be sluggish for the remaining months of 2010 and into the first half of 2011. Below is the U.S. Economic Index for the past three years.

“As the chart above reveals, the U.S. Economic Index has been essentially flat for the past 11 months. The Index is signaling slow growth, or no growth, for the next six to 12 months,” said Jerry W. Thomas, President/CEO of Decision Analyst. “The Economic Index is not forecasting a double-dip recession, although it’s possible that we could experience one or two slightly negative quarters over the next year. It’s difficult to see any factors that might produce strong economic growth in 2011. High unemployment, continuing foreclosures, sluggish home sales, and lack of credit for consumers and small businesses will remain significant drags on the economy over the next 12 months.”

International Index

The table on the next page compares the U.S. Economic Index to Decision Analyst’s Economic Indices in other countries. In Europe, Germany has the highest scores of the European countries listed, while France and Spain have the two lowest scores. China and Brazil have the highest scores. (See table on below.)

 

Census Divisions

The Pacific and Mountain Divisions appear to be doing worse than the rest of the country, while New England and Middle Atlantic have the highest Economic Index scores of all the census divisions. (See map below.)

 

The Decision Analyst Economic Index is based on a monthly Internet survey of several thousand households balanced by gender, age, and geography. The online survey is conducted the last 10 days of each month. The Economic Index is calculated from nine different economic measurements using a sophisticated econometric model. The result is a snapshot of current economic activity in each country surveyed, as seen through the eyes of representative consumers living in the respective countries. Decision Analyst conducts its concurrent economic surveys each month in Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, Colombia, France, Germany, India, Italy, Mexico, Netherlands, Peru, Russian Federation, Spain, United Kingdom, United States, 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 near or below 100 generally indicates economic contraction. These guidelines vary by country, however.

About Decision Analyst

Decision Analyst (www.decisionanalyst.com) is a leading global marketing research and analytical consulting firm specializing in advertising testing, strategy research, new product development, and advanced modeling for marketing decision optimization. The 32-year-old firm delivers competitive advantage to clients throughout the world in the consumer packaged goods, telecommunications, retail, technology, medical, and pharmaceutical industries. In addition, Decision Analyst owns and operates American Consumer Opinion® Online—one of the largest consumer opinion panels in the world—with more than eight million members.

For additional information contact:
Cristi Allen
Publicity
Email: callen@decisionanalyst.com
Phone: 1-800-ANALYSIS (262-5974) or 1-817-640-6166
Address: 604 Avenue H East
Arlington, TX 76011

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