Respondents assessed their current situation to have met or exceeded expectations they formed 12 months ago.
But just the same, the consumer confidence survey, conducted by the University of Guam Pacific Center for Economic Initiatives, indicated that local consumers seem to be just as cautious with their spending plans as they were during the March survey.
“These two surveys represent the beginning of a data series on one of the very important measures of the Guam economy,” said Maria Claret Ruane, economics professor and resident economist at UOG School of Business and Public Administration.
“The next survey will be conducted in March 2010, at which point, we will have the first opportunity to check for possible seasonal effects on consumer confidence,” Ruane added.
The survey, which polled 314 respondents, gauged consumers’ assessments of their economic conditions based on local employment experience, income situation, as well as local, regional and global conditions.
“Based on September 2009 survey, between 40 percent and 50 percent of respondents indicated their prospects to be higher in the next 12 months to be higher than this year’s in the areas related to the local economy,” the survey report stated.
“Supportive of this finding have been the significant decreases in the percent of respondents who assessed their current situation to be ‘much worse than last year’s’ in all five areas and those who replied ‘worse than last year’s in all areas except ‘local income situation’ and ‘global business conditions,’ ” the report stated.
