(ACSI: Ann Arbor, MI) -- After a surge through the second quarter, aggregate customer satisfaction as measured by the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) stalls. The ACSI loses 0.1 percent for the third quarter, which brings the Index to a score of 76.0 on a 100-point scale. Still, the Index has improved since the depths of the recession and stands 1.3-percent higher than it was a year ago. Despite the slight drop in ACSI, many companies are improving their customer relationships: gainers lead decliners 45 to 39 percent, with 16 percent unchanged.

Because of the relatively sharp increase in customer satisfaction through the second quarter, the ACSI predictive model pointed to a consumer spending increase of 3.25 percent, much higher than most other predictions, but not quite high enough—actual third quarter consumer spending turned out to be 3.35 percent.

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