Nov 23, 2021
November 30, 2021
Consumer Confidence edges lower
Consumer confidence decreased by 1.3 per cent last week. News of the Omicron coronavirus strain likely contributed to the weakness. Among the major states, confidence rose in New South Wales and South Australia, while it dropped in Victoria, Queensland and Western Australia.
‘Weekly inflation expectations’ increased 0.2ppt to 4.8 per cent but the four-week moving average dropped 0.1ppt to 4.8 per cent.
Four of the five subindices decreased. ‘Current financial conditions’ dropped 3.8 per cent and ‘future financial conditions’ were down 0.9 per cent.
‘Current economic conditions’ softened 0.6 per cent, while ‘future economic conditions’ declined 5.9 per cent – its biggest drop since April 2020.
‘Time to buy a major household item’ jumped 4.6 per cent.
"Consumer confidence fell 1.3 per cent for the last weekend of November compared to the prior weekend." ANZ Head of Australian Economics, David Plank said.
"News of Omicron likely impacted sentiment, with some new restrictions for international travellers being quickly imposed. Only 16.3 per cent of respondents expect ‘good times’ for the economy over the next five years, the lowest since August 2020."
"Despite the overall dampened outlook, ‘time to buy major household items’ rose to its highest since early July 2021. As well, confidence in ‘financial conditions’ is holding up quite well. Weekly inflation expectations rose 0.2ppt to 4.8 per cent but stayed below its recent high despite petrol prices surging 3.6 per cent in the past two weeks."
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