Oct 15, 2019
October 1, 2019
Consumer confidence recovers partially
ANZ-Roy Morgan Australian Consumer Confidence made a partial recovery last week, rising 0.6 per cent after the prior week’s 1.2 per cent drop.
Current finances dropped 2.4 per cent, however. This component is now down nearly 10 per cent from its August high. Future finances gained 0.4 per cent, taking it back above its long-term average.
Current economic conditions gained 0.3 per cent, while future economic conditions declined by 1.1 per cent. Both the subindices are below their long-term average.
The ‘Time to buy a household item’ measure gained 5.1 per cent. There have been some big up and down swings in this measure in recent months, but it remains below its long-run average.
Inflation expectations were stable at 4.1 per cent.
"Confidence eked a small gain on the back of a strong rebound in the ‘Time to buy' a household item’ subindex. Outside of this, the results were mixed, perhaps reflecting the news flow over the week," ANZ Head of Australian Economics, David Plank, said.
"On the positive side, Australia’s unemployment rate moved lower on the back of a decent employment report. But the IMF’s downgrade to Australia’s economic outlook attracted a lot of attention, as did the slowdown in China’s data."
"Of particular note, current finances dropped 2.4 per cent – the second big fall in the past three weeks. This measure is still well above average, but is now down close to 10 per cent from its August high."
"If consumers lose confidence in their own finances when they are also worried about the broader economic outlook then there may be a material impact on spending."
Related Articles
Oct 08, 2019