EAST LANSING – Michigan consumer confidence, already at historic

lows, dropped still further this summer, a new Michigan State University State of the State Survey contends.

More than 60 percent of the state’s residents said they’re worse off this summer than they were a year ago, a new low for the survey measuring consumer

confidence quarterly since 1994.

Barely 42 percent called their finances excellent or good, another new low.

The Summer 2008 survey, questioning Michigan 1,010 adults between mid-July

and mid-September, is the first to be completed during the recent increase in

troubles on Wall Street.

In the previous quarter’s survey, 57.3 percent of the state’s residents said they

were worse off then than a year ago. In that same survey, in Spring 2008, slightly

more than 45 percent of those interviewed called their finances excellent or

good.

“We’re in year nine of employment losses in the state of Michigan,” said State of

the State Director Charles Ballard, an MSU economics professor. “It isn’t very

surprising that many people are feeling uneasy.”

However, there were also some encouraging notes, Ballard said. Slightly more than 22 percent of the state’s residents said they were better off this

summer than they were a year ago. That’s up from 20.4 percent who said they were better off in the Spring 2008 polling.

Michigan citizens also predicted better times next year. More than half, 52.1

percent, expect they’ll be better off a year from now, a striking improvement from

the spring’s record low of 39.4 percent, Ballard said.

When asked about presidential choices, 45 percent of the respondents expressed

support for Democratic U.S. Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois and 33.3 percent

favored Republican U.S. Sen. John McCain of Arizona.

On Michigan’s political front, Gov. Jennifer Granholm’s performance was rated as

“excellent” or “good” by 23 percent of those responding to the survey, down from

24.1 percent in the spring’s rating, but up from 20 percent in the Winter 2008

survey.

President Bush’s approval rating fell to another new low, with 16.6 percent of the

state’s residents giving him an “excellent” or “good” rating, a decline from 17.4

percent in the previous quarter’s survey.

Citizens were also asked to assess Detroit’s fortunes in the next five to 10 years.

Overall, 32.3 percent of those responding predicted the city’s status would

improve, 40 percent said it would stay the same, and 27.7 percent predicted

decline.

The telephone survey was conducted by MSU’s Office for Survey Research in the

Institute for Public Policy and Social Research (IPPSR.) IPPSR, in MSU’s College

of Social Science, specializes in public policy, political leadership training, and

survey research.

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