Please be advised that Gallup and Healthways, Inc. released the Gallup-Healthways Monthly U.S. Well-Being Report for January 2010. After falling steadily since mid-summer of 2009, the Gallup-Healthways Well-Being IndexTM (WBI) rose 1.1 percent in January 2010 to close the month at 66.8, tying the highest monthly score recorded in 2009 and representing a 2.2 percentage point increase year-over-year.

Americans in January reported more optimism about their current life circumstances and prospects for the future than at any point since Well-Being Index measurement commenced 25 months ago. While not statistically significant, January’s 2.0 percent rise in the WBI’s Life Evaluation Sub-Index (LEI) pushes that leading indicator to an all time high of 50.3.

Meantime, Healthy Behavior scores, an important predictor of overall Well-Being, experienced a healthy improvement in January, as Americans apparently put their New Year’s resolutions into practice. While still well below the levels witnessed during the summer, last month’s absolute Healthy Behavior Index score of 62.9 was an increase of 1.8 percentage points over the 2009 yearly low of 61.1 recorded in December and was 1.7 percentage points higher than the Healthy Behavior score recorded one year earlier.