Anchorage consumer optimism rises to another record high
Consumer optimism has reached another record high according to the second-quarter results of the 2013 Anchorage Consumer Optimism Index (ANCi) released by the Anchorage Economic Development Corp. The more stable six-month moving average of consumer optimism also rose to an all-time high, breaking a record set in the second-quarter of 2012.
Sponsored by KeyBank and produced by Northern Economics, Inc. on behalf of AEDC, the ANCi measures the confidence of consumers using data from a random sample of 350 households in the Municipality of Anchorage. Comprised of three individual components — Local Economy Confidence, Personal Financial Confidence and Expectations for the Future — the overall reading rose from 59.9 in the first quarter to 61.4 in the second quarter.
"Record-high readings continue to demonstrate the explicit optimism of Anchorage residents in their local economy," said Brian Nerland, KeyBank market president. "Expectations of the future are also at an all-time high among Anchorage residents, due in part to beautiful summer weather, a decline in local unemployment and a strong residential housing market."
The Local Economy Confidence component, the most direct measure of respondents' feelings about the state of the Anchorage economy, rose 3.6 points to a new record high of 65.3. Personal Financial Confidence rose 1.7 points from the first quarter of 2013 to 66.6, breaking above 2012 readings. The Expectations of the Future component marked another record for the history of the index, rising 2.3 points to 56.8.
AEDC is a private, nonprofit membership organization developed in 1987 to encourage growth and to diversify the Anchorage economy. The organization has more than 235 investors, which represent all industries in Anchorage and Alaska. For more information visit Anchorage Economic Development Corp.
AEDC press materials