The Consumer Confidence Index is based on 11-survey questions outlined below. The score is computed by adding the percentage of positive responses to each question, and subtracting the percentage of negative responses. The Present Situation Index is based on questions 1, 3, 5, and 7 (see the following tables of results). The Future Expectations Index is based on questions 2, 4, 6, and 8. The Purchasing Index is based on questions 9, 10, and 11. Results from the Middle Tennessee consumer confidence surveys can be compared to national consumer confidence surveys published monthly by the Conference Board (www.conference-board.org).

The Middle Tennessee Consumer Confidence Survey:

1. Turning first to business conditions in the country as a whole, would you say that business conditions in the country as a whole are good, bad, or somewhere in between?
     
2. And how about 6 months from now, do you expect that in the country as a whole business conditions will be better than they are today, worse than they are today, or just about the same?
     
3. Now turning to business conditions in Middle Tennessee, would you say that business conditions in Middle Tennessee are good, bad, or somewhere in between?
     
4. And how about 6 months from now, do you expect that in Middle Tennessee business conditions will be better than they are today, worse than they are today, or just about the same?
     
5. Now turning to the availability of jobs in Middle Tennessee, would you say that jobs are easy to find, can be found with effort, or hard to find?
     
6. How about in the next 6 months, do you expect that in Middle Tennessee there will be more job openings than there are now, fewer job openings than there are now, or about the same number of job openings?
     
7. We are interested in how people are getting along financially these days. Would you say that you, and any family members living with you, are better off financially than you were a year ago, worse off financially than you were a year ago, or about the same?
     
8. Now looking ahead, do you think that 12 months from now you, and any family members living with you, will be better off financially, worse off financially, or about the same?
     
9. About the big things people buy for their homes -- such as furniture, a refrigerator, stove, television, and things like that, generally speaking, do you think now is a good time for people to buy major household items, a bad time, or somewhere in between?
     
10. How about buying a house? Is now a good time to buy a house, a bad time to buy a house, or somewhere in between?
      
11. How about buying a car? Is now a good time to buy a car, a bad time to buy a car, or somewhere in between?