Poll: CT residents optimistic on economy, pessimistic on personal finances

The majority of Connecticut residents believe the state”™s overall business conditions will either improve or remain the same during the next six months, according to the latest InformCT Consumer Confidence Survey conducted by the Connecticut Economic Research Center. Yet at the same time, most residents were apprehensive about near-term job security and being able to cover health insurance and retirement costs.

The survey, which polled 505 state residents in late November, found 80 percent of respondents forecasting either an improved or unchanged business environment in the next six months, while
77 percent said conditions are the same or better now than six months ago. One year ago, the numbers were 72 percent and 65 percent, respectively.

In addition, 47 percent of respondents believed their personal financial circumstances will improve during the next six months, the highest percentage recorded in the past four years. Thirty-one percent of respondents said their personal financial standpoint was better off than six months ago, while another 31 percent said they were worse off.

As for the state”™s overall economy, 28 percent of respondents felt the Connecticut economy is improving, up from 20 percent one year ago, while 41 percent said the state economy was not improving, down from 50 percent last year.

However, there was more than a little pessimism among the survey”™s participants regarding employment and financial stability. Eighty percent of respondents believed that Connecticut-based jobs were either very hard to get or that there are some jobs but not enough. And while 23 percent of respondents felt the state”™s employment situation will improve in the next six months 77 percent expected the employment situation to stay the same or get worse.

In regard to health care costs, 59 percent of respondents said they were concerned about being able to afford health insurance, while 18 percent said they were not. The percentage of residents who were not concerned was the smallest recorded by the survey in more than two years. And 52 percent of respondents felt they will not have enough money to retire comfortably, compared with 21 percent who were more positive about their retirement funding. One year ago, those percentages were 45 percent to 27 percent.