SAN RAFAEL, Calif.—After nearly three years of constant decline in the level of “financial anxiety,” consumers are exhibiting signs of nervousness about the worsening conflicts around the world.
The April preliminary Money Anxiety Index is flat at 65.7, indicating that the level of financial anxiety among consumers is not improving as it did in the past three years, according to Dr. Dan Geller, who publishes the Money Anxiety Index.
Geller said the worsening conflicts in the Middle East and growing tensions in Eastern Europe are creating economic uncertainty among U.S. consumers.
“In response, consumers are lowering their personal consumptions, and businesses are starting to moderate their hiring in anticipation for slower demand for goods and services,” the company said in a statement. “Despite an increase of 0.4% in personal income in February, personal consumption expenditures increased by only 0.1% in nominal terms in February, which shows that consumers were holding back on spending.”
The Money Anxiety Index measures consumers' level of financial worry and stress based on financial activities. Historically, the Money Anxiety Index fluctuated from a high of 135.3 during the recession of the early 1980s, to a low of 38.7 in the mid-1960s. The Money Anxiety Index is highly predictive. It signaled the arrival of the Great Recession over a year prior to the official declaration of the recession in December of 2007.