BEPI Poll: Hispanic Economic Optimism Falls
Hispanic consumers are spending less as optimism about their economic outlook dwindles amid inflation and economic uncertainty, according to a poll from the Business & Economics Polling Initiative at Florida Atlantic University.
Hispanic consumers are spending less as optimism about their economic outlook dwindles amid inflation and economic uncertainty, according to a poll from the Business & Economics Polling Initiative at Florida Atlantic University.
The Hispanic Consumer Sentiment Index read in at 81.2 for the second quarter of 2025, down from 85.7 in the first quarter of the year.
Overall, there was a decrease in optimism in four out of the five questions used to generate the Hispanic Consumer Sentiment Index.
“While Hispanic consumers continue to demonstrate notable resilience, our latest index shows their confidence has eased since the start of the year,” said Monica Escaleras, Ph.D., director of BEPI in FAU’s College of Business. “The drop from 85.7 in the first quarter to 81.2 in the second quarter reflects growing caution about both short- and long-term economic prospects.”
Fewer Hispanic consumers felt they were better off than a year ago (55%) in the second quarter of 2025, down from 63% in the first quarter of the year.
Regarding the short-run economic outlook of the country, 47% of Hispanics said they expect the country as a whole to experience good business conditions in the upcoming year, compared to 53% in the first quarter.
In terms of the long-run economic outlook of the country, 46% of Hispanics are less optimistic compared to 52% in the first quarter of the year.
Only 45% of Hispanics surveyed feel it’s a good time to purchase a big-ticket item in the second quarter, a decrease from 51% in the first quarter of the year.
“Fewer Hispanic households now feel better off than a year ago, and optimism about big-ticket purchases has slipped,” Escaleras said. “These findings suggest that inflation and uncertainty about the broader economy are tempering spending plans, even as a solid majority remains hopeful about their personal finances over the next 12 months.”
One question’s responses did remain the same – 64% of Hispanics felt optimistic about their future financial situation, unchanged from the first quarter, but 6 percentage points lower than the last quarter of 2024.
The poll is based on a panel sample of 540 Hispanic adults over 18 years old. The survey was administered using both landlines via Interactive Voice Response data collection and online data collection using Dynata. Respondents were sampled between April 1 and June 30 with a margin of error of +/-4.21 percentage points. Responses for the entire sample were weighted to reflect the national distribution of the Hispanic population by region, education, gender, age and income, according to the latest American Community Survey data. Full results can be found here.
-FAU-
Latest Research
- FAU Report: Business, Job Growth Jumps in South FloridaSouth Florida's economy continues to outpace national growth, driven by strong employment gains and a surge in business creation, according to a new economic outlook report from Florida Atlantic University.
- Study Refutes Blood Thinner Brain Bleed Risk After Falls in SeniorsFAU researchers found that warfarin use - even at high blood-thinning levels - did not significantly raise brain bleeding risk among 2,700 older adults admitted to the ER with fall-related head injuries.
- FAU Experts: Prescribe High Potency Statins for Treatment, PreventionBased on robust data, FAU Schmidt College of Medicine researchers urge cardiologists to prescribe high potency statins -particularly rosuvastatin and atorvastatin - to prevent and treat cardiovascular disease.
- Most Hospital Visits of Vulnerable Nursing Home Residents AvoidableOne of the largest studies of its kind shows that about 80% of ER visits and more than one-third of hospitalizations in severely impaired and terminally ill nursing home residents were potentially avoidable.
- Spying on Stingrays: First-ever Tags Show Elusive Behaviors, HabitatsFAU Harbor Branch researchers are the first to successfully develop and field-test a multi-sensor biologging tag on the elusive whitespotted eagle ray, providing vital insights into their behavior.
- U.S. Adolescents with Cannabis Use Disorder Failing to Complete RehabFAU Schmidt College of Medicine researchers analyzed data from more than 40,000 teens who received treatment between 2018 and 2021 and found alarmingly low rates (about 35%) of treatment completion.