24/7 Wall St.

For the week ending November 11, the Gallup U.S. economic confidence index came in at -11, a slight decline from the -10 reading of the previous week. These two weeks have put up the best readings of the year so far and the best since the financial crisis of 2008.

Gallup noted that the reading for the first part of last week was -7, falling to -14 for the second half of the week. The polling firm noted:

Confidence may have receded as a result of the drop in the stock market after the Nov. 6 election, and the renewed focus on the pending “fiscal cliff” at the end of the year.

The economic outlook component of the index fell slightly from -1 to -2, and the current conditions component fell from -18 to -19. Even with the decline, however, the two components are at their highest levels since the downturn of 2008.

Regarding last week’s general election, Gallup said:

Economic confidence continues to improve but still needs to make gains to reach positive territory. The election results did little to change the immediate post-election evaluations of the economy.

The firm cites the fiscal cliff and continued uncertainty about a European recovery as having the potential to weigh down economic confidence. On the positive side, good holiday sales in the United States and continuing improvement on the jobs front could boost the confidence levels.

Paul Ausick