Aug 17, 2021
August 24, 2021
Consumer confidence up-ticks
Consumer confidence saw a small rise of 0.5 per cent last week, driven mainly by strong increases in South Australia and Western Australia and a rebound in Brisbane as restrictions were eased in parts of Queensland.
The subindices registered mixed results with the ones capturing ‘current’ conditions changing the most. ‘Current financial conditions’ improved 7.0 per cent, while ‘current economic conditions’ declined 6.9 per cent.
‘Future’ conditions were practically unchanged with ‘future financial conditions’ softer by 0.3 per cent and ‘future economic conditions’ 0.3 per cent better.
‘Time to buy a major household item’ gained 1.6 per cent. ‘Weekly inflation expectations’ fell 0.1ppt to 4.4 per cent, after reaching a 26-month high last week. Its four-week moving average rose 0.1ppt to 4.4 per cent.
"Consumer confidence rose 0.5 per cent last week amidst rising cases and fresh lockdowns in Victoria and the ACT and an extension of the one in Sydney." ANZ Head of Australian Economics, David Plank said.
"The overall figure was due to rises of 8.0 per cent in SA, 11.4 per cent in WA and 1.7 per cent in Brisbane. The news about the strength of the labour market in July with, unemployment rate dropping to 4.6 per cent, might have added to the positive outlook."
"Confidence in Victoria and NSW remained at the lowest level among the states, falling 2.9 per cent and
1.9 per cent respectively. But even with this drop, sentiment in these two states remains well above the lows of last year."
"This supports our expectation that household spending will likely rebound sharply in lockdown areas when restrictions ease."
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