BANDON, Ore. -

CNW Research indicated vehicle financing approvals for subprime buyers are down a bit this month compared to a year ago but are up slightly compared to April.

The latest edition of the firm’s Retail Automotive Summary showed subprime approvals are off by 7.8 percent so far this month. However, May approvals for consumers with credit scores in the 600s and lower are up by 0.23 percent compared to the previous month.

CNW president Art Spinella determined that the average FICO score of consumers who bought a new vehicle in the first half of May stood at 641.8 compared to 645.2 a year ago.

“Financial institutions are cracking open the approvals for slightly less qualified shoppers than last year,” he said. “Interestingly, retired military have a comfortable margin over all new-car buyers when it comes to FICO scores.”

CNW discovered that retired military personnel boasted an average FICO score of 703.8 in May, the highest reading since April of 2011.

Looking at the economy as a whole, CNW pointed out how the situation is appearing upbeat for consumers. The firm’s Jitters Index dipped by 1.12 percent in May compared to the previous month, and is down by 0.73 percent year-over-year.

“Even though the first 15 days of the month showed a modest 6-percent increase in deliveries, the most recent week and a half puts the sales rate closer to an 11 percent increase,” Spinella said.

“Americans are less ‘jittery’ about their home-centric plight than either last year or last month — a positive sign that they are willing to open the bank vault and spend a little more,” he continued.

CNW mentioned what it considers to be an additional positive sign — consumers are visiting dealerships. The firm’s Floor Traffic Index for May indicated a 7.6-percent increase in visits.

“And those walk-ins are clearly qualified buyers,” Spinella said. “Closing ratios are up 14.4 percent versus last year and a comfortable 1.8 percent versus last month.

“Both percentages are low based on retail activity during the past 10 days,” he went on to say.