Snapshot for Conference Board Consumer Confidence Present Situation SA 1985=100 (CONCPSIT)

Rate Profile Information for CONCPSIT

The underlying series for ''planned purchases'' (autos, homes, and major appliances) and ''vacation intentions'' showed larger increases in November 2010 levels, primarily due to sample design differences. These level shifts will be treated as breaks, and there will be no historial revisions. Neither series is included in or has any impact on the Consumer Confidence Index.The switch to the Census X-12 seasonal adjustment program produced only minor differences for both levels and month-to-month changes. As a result, The Conference Board did not find it necessary to undertake a full historical revision of the CCI time series based on the seasonal adjustment method. The restated data for November 2010, December 2010 and January 2011 (preliminary data) are based on the prior seasonal adjustment method. This index is an average of responses to the following questions: 1. Respondents appraisal of current business conditions. 2. Respondents appraisal of the current employment conditions. For each question, there are three response options: Positive, Negative and Neutral. The response proportions to each question are seasonally adjusted. For each of the questions (above), the POSITIVE figure is divided by the sum of the POSITIVE and NEGATIVE to yield a proportion, which we call the 'RELATIVE' value. For each question, the average RELATIVE for the calendar year 1985 is then used as a benchmark to yield the INDEX value for that question.