The Rochester Business Journal online edition is currently declaring that the Sienna Research Institute study shows consumer confidence in the Rochester area is up. Sounds good. Unfortunately, the actual numbers are considerably less rosy. Confidence (which is actually three separate indexes, Current, Future and Overall) is only up about two percent from last quarter depending on the index that you look at. And while the current index is up even from the same time last year, the overall trend over the last four years has been down, down, down she goes. And the state average is less confident than even the national average.
But rather than waste time with silly reports that whitewash reality, perhaps the RBJ could better use its time actually digging into the numbers and reporting the facts.
