Consumer sentiment slips in all New York state metro areas in Q1

Consumers in all nine of New York’s major regions became less confident about the economy and less willing to spend in the first quarter.

That’s according to the results of the latest Siena (College) Research Institute (SRI) quarterly consumer-sentiment survey of the state’s metropolitan-statistical areas (MSAs) issued today.

Consumer sentiment in the first quarter fell 7.6 points to 60.6 in the Utica–Rome region, dipped 2.6 points to 71.6 in the Syracuse area, and fell 6.2 points to 66.4 in the Binghamton region, compared to the fourth quarter of 2012.

The Long Island region recorded the smallest decrease at a single point, and the Rochester MSA’s consumer sentiment fell 7.7 points, representing the largest confidence decline during the quarter, according to the SRI data.

At 60.6, the Utica–Rome region had the lowest overall consumer-sentiment reading of the nine regions, and the New York City area had the highest level at 82.4. Current sentiment decreased in six regions, and future confidence slipped in all regions.

“After beating the drum of consumer sentiment last quarter, sentiment fell in every region of the state in the first three months of 2013,” Douglas Lonnstrom, professor of statistics and finance at Siena College and SRI founding director, said in a news release.

“Only New York City residents remain more optimistic than pessimistic while consumers in every other region again see more dark clouds than sunshine. Upstate regions fell by at least two and a half points in Syracuse to over seven points in Utica and Rochester with large, you might say, scary declines in sentiment towards the future. Buying plans weakened in most areas with 80 percent of Upstate plans now below their historic average rate,” he continued.

SRI conducted the quarterly consumer-sentiment survey by random telephone calls to more than 400 respondents over the age of 18 in all of the MSAs, except for New York City and Long Island, which are based on an average of SRI’s monthly consumer-confidence surveys.