Upstate New York’s consumer sentiment rose 2.2 points to 68 in April, according to the latest monthly survey from the Siena (College) Research Institute (SRI) released today.
Upstate’s overall-sentiment index of 68 is a combination of the current-sentiment and future-sentiment components. Upstate’s current-sentiment index of 73.9 is up 2.3 points from March, while the future-sentiment level rose 2.2 points to 64.2, according to the SRI data.
The Upstate figure was nearly six points below the statewide consumer-sentiment level of 73.9, which was down 0.6 points from March, SRI said.
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New York’s consumer-sentiment index was 2.5 points lower than the figure for the entire nation of 76.4, which was down two points from March, as measured by the University of Michigan’s consumer-sentiment index.
Despite a strong performance from Wall Street in April and over the last 12 months, overall consumer sentiment “hardly moved” either last month or when compared to a year ago, Douglas Lonnstrom, professor of statistics and finance at Siena College and SRI founding director, said in a news release.
“Overall, the market gains do not translate into growing confidence among consumers as worries over job security and our economic future does not brighten,” Lonnstrom said.
In SRI’s monthly analysis of gas and food prices, 68 percent of upstate respondents said the price of gas was having a serious impact on their monthly budgets, which is down from 74 percent in March and 70 percent in February.
In addition, 59 percent of statewide respondents indicated concern about the price of gas, down from 62 percent in March, according to SRI.
When asked about food prices, 72 percent of Upstate respondents indicated their grocery bill was having a serious impact on their finances, down from 71 percent in March. About 70 percent of statewide respondents expressed concern about their food bills, up from 68 percent in March.
SRI conducted its consumer-sentiment survey in April by random telephone calls to 805 New York residents over the age of 18.
Contact Reinhardt at ereinhardt@cnybj.com