S.I.B Survey Asks About Your Economic Status  

While the S.I.B. reports that the poverty rate is just over twenty-two percent, they also run a monthly survey called the Consumer Confidence Index. This survey gauges people’s feelings about their economic situation. According to the Acting Manager of the Economic Statistics Department, it’s a quick Q&A session with closed-ended questions, so participants don’t get a chance to elaborate on their answers.

 

Jacqueline Sabal, Acting Manager, Economic Statistics Department

“ It’s just ten questions, and we’re asking them how they feel about their household financial situation, general economic conditions, and then also about  savings, whether they think prices will increase, if they think unemployment will increase, etc. So, it’s fairly short. Um, what we use to compile the index is just seven out of those 10 questions. And of the 7 questions, we separate them into the present index, expectations, and then durable goods.  The present deals with Your present financial situation, present economic situation, et cetera, expectations is what you think will happen in the future, 12 months from now. With regards to the same thing, your financial situation and general economic conditions. And then the durable goods question is about whether consumers think now is the right time to make major purchases of durable goods. So we’re asking about if now is the right time to By builder, renovate a home, purchase a car, furniture, those type of items that require a lot of intent and thought before making purchase, making that big purchase.  When it comes to expectations, it’s very specific. It’s about your expectation regarding your financial situation. If you think it will get better, if you think it will get worse, if you think it will stay the same. So that’s what we focus on when it comes to expectations. Similarly, for general economic conditions, that’s what we focus on.”