Survey shows Tennessee consumers have increasingly positive view of U.S. economy

Staff photo by Erin O. Smith / Jan Wilson and Shirley Spann check out a scarf during a shopping trip to Merchants on Main. Super Saturday is the last Saturday before Christmas and one of the busiest shopping days of the year. Staff photo by Erin O. Smith / Jan Wilson and Shirley Spann check out a scarf during a shopping trip to Merchants on Main. Super Saturday is the last Saturday before Christmas and one of the busiest shopping days of the year.

By Mary Fortune December 24, 2019 3 min read

"Overall, this is very good news for Tennessee business and retailers." – Timothy R. Graeff, director of the Office of Consumer Research at MTSU

Tennessee consumers have an increasingly positive view of the U.S. economy, the state’s economy, and their own financial futures, according to a recent consumer confidence survey from the Office of Consumer Research at Middle Tennessee State University.

“All three components of the index rose,” said Timothy R. Graeff, director of the Office of Consumer Research at MTSU in a written summary of the results. “This suggests Tennessee consumers have increasingly more positive views of the current economy, are more optimistic about the future economy, and increasingly view now as a good time to make a large purchase.”

The survey of 630 Tennessee residents was conducted between Dec. 4 and Dec. 9. Scores in the quarterly survey are based on consumers’ answers to 11 questions, and this quarter’s results reflect the highest overall scores since the survey was first conducted in September 2015.

“Overall, this is very good news for Tennessee business and retailers,” Graeff said.