Patrick Lavelle, chief executive officer of Audiovox Corp., which makes automotive and consumer electronics, said lagging consumer confidence is keeping retailers cautious.
"We see a lack of confidence with the consumer and that obviously is something that we have taken into consideration," Lavelle said on a July 12 conference call with analysts. "With unemployment still north of 9 percent, we don't see that changing much."
Audiovox, a Hauppauge, New York-based manufacturer, reported a first-quarter decline in sales in its consumer accessories group.
This Year
The Bloomberg consumer comfort index has averaged minus 44.7 this year, compared with minus 45.7 for all of 2010 and minus 47.9 in 2009, the year the last recession ended, the report showed.
The Bloomberg Consumer Comfort Index is based on responses to telephone interviews with a random sample of 1,000 U.S. residents age 18 and over. Each week, 250 respondents are asked for their views on the economy, personal finances and buying climate. Results are combined with data from the previous three weeks, and the percentage of negative responses is subtracted from the share of positive views on each question, with the results then averaged.
The comfort index can range from 100, indicating every participant in the survey had a positive response to all three components, to minus 100, signaling all views were negative.
Field work for the index is done by Social Science Research Solutions in Media, Pennsylvania.