Hispanics' Consumer Confidence Drops for Second Straight Quarter as President Trump's Approval Dips to 34 Percent

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BOCA RATON, Fla., July 10, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Consumer confidence among Hispanics in the U.S. dropped slightly for the second consecutive quarter of 2019 as concerns for the economic outlook for the U.S. worsened, according to a new national consumer sentiment index conducted by the Florida Atlantic University Business and Economics Polling Initiative (FAU BEPI) in FAU's College of Business. 

The Hispanic Consumer Sentiment Index, taken from April through June, stands at 95, down nearly two points from the first quarter of 2019 when the Index stood at 96.6. The Index is now more than three points below the second quarter score of 98.4 for the overall U.S. population as published by the University of Michigan.

Overall, 68 percent of Hispanics said they are financially better off today than a year ago, up slightly from the first quarter (67 percent). Looking ahead, 70 percent of Hispanics indicated they would be better off over the next year, which is a four-point drop from the first quarter. Hispanics that self-identified as Democrats are more optimistic about their future financial situation (75 percent) compared to Republicans (69 percent), Independents (67 percent) and unregistered voters (63 percent).

Hispanics' short-run economic outlook was unchanged, with 59 percent of Hispanics saying they expect the country as a whole to experience good business conditions in the upcoming year. Women are more optimistic about the short-run economic outlook of the country compared to men (62-56 percent).

Hispanics' long-run outlook also took another slight downturn, with 56 percent of Hispanics expecting good times for the country as a whole over the next five years, down two points from the first quarter (58 percent).

The drop in consumer confidence also appeared to continue to bring down U.S. President Donald Trump's approval rating among Hispanics, which has dipped three points in each of the last two quarters to 34 percent. Of those surveyed, 25.7 percent identified themselves as Republicans, 41.6 percent Democrats, 16 percent Independents and 16.8 percent were not registered. 

The survey was conducted nationally from April 1 to June 30, using both landlines via IVR data collection and online data collection. The random polling sample consisted of 510 Hispanics, 18 years of age and older, with a margin of error of +/- 4.34 percent.

SOURCE FAU Business and Economics Polling Initiative