Leading the list of troubles, which were felt the most by people in the Northeast: 15.7 percent said they were unable to pay a medical bill or buy needed medications; 13.4 percent were smacked with higher interest rates, penalty fees, or other nasty surprises courtesy of their credit card companies; and 9.4 percent had missed a payment on a major bill (not including their mortgage).

In addition, the Employment Index remains unchanged from the previous month, reflecting a job market that is still shedding workers. In the past 30 days, 7.4 percent reported losing their jobs, versus 5.2 percent who found a new one. And our Stress Index is up slightly, which may be largely due to the approaching holidays.

Yet despite the fact that on average consumers have not experienced much improvement in their financial lives in the past six months and they’re shouldering more stress, they’ve ratcheted up their holiday spending. If that results in more post-holiday debt, it may take some consumers a while to recover. In a separate poll, Consumer Reports National Research Center, which also created the Index, found that 13.5 million Americans still have ’08 holiday debts. So we could see a sharp decline in consumer spending early next year.

The Consumer Reports Index, conducted by the Consumer Reports National Research Center, is a monthly telephone and cell phone poll of a nationally representative sample of American adults. A total of 1,264 interviews were completed (1,014 households, 250 cell phone) among adults aged 18 and older. Interviewing took place between December 3 and December 6, 2009. The margin of error is +/- 2.8% points at a 95% confidence level.—Mandy Walker