While 53 percent of Missourians expect their personal financial situation to remain stagnant during the next 12 months, an increasing number of residents are predicting an improvement, according to the second phase of Arvest Bank’s Consumer Sentiment Survey released yesterday.
Conducted by the Center for Business and Economic Research at the University of Arkansas Sam W. Walton College of Business, the study analyzes the results of over 1,200 phone surveys performed by the University Oklahoma’s public opinion learning laboratory during October. The study examines a regional outlook, as well as that of Missouri, Oklahoma and Arkansas.
The survey results found an average 29 percent of Missouri residents expect to improve their personal financial situation during the next year, up from 19 percent when Arvest first commissioned the study in June. In the recent survey, 24 percent of Missourians predicted they’d be worse off in a year.
“We have seen some fairly substantial decreases in the percentage of consumers who think that they will be worse off in the future coupled with some slight increases in the number of consumers who think that things will get better,” said Missouri State University Bureau of Economic Research Director David Mitchell, who was retained by Arvest to analyze survey results. “Although it remains to be seen if these increases in consumer outlook will remain if wage growth doesn’t begin to quickly catch up, it is at least a step in the right direction.”
Regionally, an average 54 percent expect their personal financial situations to stay the same during the next year, followed by 26 percent in the “worse off” index and 20 percent in the “better off” category, according to the study.
When it came to favorable changes expected in business in the next year, more Missourians predicted good times ahead than those surveyed elsewhere. In the survey, 30 percent expected favorable changes, 27 percent were uncertain and 44 percent saw bad times ahead. Regionally, 25 percent expect good times, 24 percent are uncertain and 51 percent predict bad times.
The Show-Me State also led the pack in the buying conditions category, with 52 percent saying the next six months would be a good time to purchase household items such as furniture, TVs and refrigerators. That’s up from 46 percent in June, according to the study.
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