Results from a recent statewide survey conducted by LSU indicate that consumer confidence in Louisiana took a hit in late 2014 and early this year, and has now sunk below the national consumer confidence level for the first time in years.
But there’s a silver lining in the report for Baton Rouge: Consumer confidence here is the highest among any region in Louisiana and remains on par with the national average, LSU says.
The Louisiana Consumer Sentiment Index, or LCSI, which tracks consumer’s economic attitudes and expectations for the state, fell by six points from the end of the third quarter of 2014 to the end of the first quarter of 2015, LSU says. Over the same period, consumer sentiment grew nationally by nearly 10 points. The confidence index in the Baton Rouge area is 95.2. LSU says the estimates for other regions of the state fall below the national ICS for March, with the northwest and southwest regions of the state, as well as the New Orleans area, dropping significantly below the national estimate.
Prior to this year, survey estimates of consumer sentiment in Louisiana exceeded the nation, though the difference remained within the margin of error. But by the end of March this year, consumer sentiment in the state sat nearly 10 points below the nation, a difference that easily exceeds the margin of error.
Since 2012, LSU’s Public Policy Research Lab has tracked consumer confidence in the state with the LCSI, a measure based upon the national Index of Consumer Sentiment, or ICS.  The ICS is a widely recognized indicator of economic health, tracking consumer spending and historically predicting economic expansion or contraction. Consumer confidence levels are closely watched by economists as U.S. consumers account for approximately 70% of the national economy.
