Q1 consumer confidence up sharply in Syracuse, Utica, Binghamton

Consumer confidence sprung up in Syracuse, Utica, and Binghamton in the first quarter of 2012, as consumers in all nine of New York’s metropolitan statistical areas (MSA) became more willing to spend.

The Syracuse area’s overall Quarterly Consumer Confidence Index rose 10.7 points to 71.3, according to a survey conducted by the Siena (College) Research Institute (SRI). Confidence in Utica jumped 12.1 points to 68.3, and confidence in Binghamton rose 9.1 points to 65.9.

“The first quarter, if we look at it, was pretty good,” says Douglas Lonnstrom, professor of statistics and finance at Siena College and SRI founding director. “The stock market had a great first quarter. The job market looked better. Psychologically, there was less negative news.”

Consumer confidence in Syracuse, Utica, and Binghamton did not increase enough to top the index’s break-even point of 76.01. Index results above 76.01 indicate more consumers are optimistic than pessimistic, while results below 76.01 mean more consumers are pessimistic.

However, consumers in two New York State MSAs powered confidence indexes for their regions above the break-even point. Overall confidence in New York City jumped 15.4 points to 81.5, and confidence in Rochester climbed 6.9 points to 77.6.

New York City was home to the highest overall Quarterly Consumer Confidence Index in the state. Binghamton had the lowest.

SRI made random telephone calls to adults over the age of 18 to conduct the quarterly survey. Each MSA index is based on more than 400 respondents, except for New York City and Long Island. SRI averages results from its monthly consumer-confidence surveys to develop quarterly indexes for New York City and Long Island.

Contact Seltzer at rseltzer@cnybj.com