As the possibility of war with Iraq sank in, the results of this month’s Economic Confidence Meter dropped significantly in all three major categories. Our respondents’ confidence in the chances for a recovery in the overall economy in the next three months plummeted a half a point, to 5.0 on a scale of 1 to 10. Their confidence in the chances of a recovery in their own industry categories fell three tenths of a point, to 5.4, while the score for their own companies declined from 6.5 to 6.1. Industry categories that suffered big drops include financial services, which dropped more than a point, to 4.7, and computer services, which fell to 5.2 from 5.9. The big winner was energy/utilities, which rose eight tenths of a point, to 6.1.
