McGladrey charts shutdown impact

With the government shutdown dominating headlines during the first half of October, U.S. economic data appeared to trend in a mostly negative direction for much of the month, according to McGladrey, the Chicago-based tax, consulting and assurance company with a large presence in Stamford.

The Citigroup Economic Surprise index (CESI) traced noticeably higher during Q3, but sharply reversed in early October, McGladrey reported in its October economic release. The index touched negative territory in the final days of the month, marking the first negative print since July 30.

Consumer psyches, as measured by the Consumer Confidence (CCI) and Consumer Sentiment (CSI) indexes, followed suit, trending down in the month. The CCI dropped nine points (80.2 to 71.2), marking the largest month-over-month decline since February 2010. The CSI also fell, “albeit not as dramatically,” McGladrey said, from 77.5 to 73.2.

The considerable decline in consumer sentiment was largely associated with the government shutdown that stretched on for more than two weeks, according to McGladrey.