Please be advised that Gallup and Healthways, Inc. (NASDAQ: HWAY) today released the Gallup-Healthways Monthly U.S. Well-Being Report for August 2010.
August's Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index™ (WBI) dropped slightly for the third month in a row, decreasing to 66.9 from 67.1 in July. The score of 66.9 ended a streak of four consecutive months where the composite score measured at or above 67, and marked the first time all six domain scores dropped in the same month.
A portion of the overall WBI decline is attributed to the Work Environment Index (WEI), which slipped from 48.1 to 47.7 in August. This marks the 18th time in the last 20 months the WEI measured below 50, after tracking above this plateau through all of 2008. This trend likely reflects the prolonged impact of the recession and the continued influence of the economic downturn on the work environment.
The Life Evaluation Index, which reached its all-time high of 50.8 in June, is now at 49.3. The number of people who were thriving in August fell to 52.8 percent, ending seven consecutive months of measuring above 53 percent.
The Healthy Behavior Index (HBI), which reached an all-time high of 65.5 in July, slipped back to 65 in August, still tied for the third best HBI score recorded.