Consumer confidence: still weak
• Consumer confidence was virtually unchanged last week, increasing just 0.3pts to 80.5pts. The four-week moving average was stable at 80.7pts.
• ‘Weekly inflation expectations’ rose 0.1pts to 5.0 per cent, while the four-week moving average was unchanged at 4.9 per cent.
• ‘Current financial conditions’ (over last year) softened 0.7pts, while ‘future financial conditions’ (next 12 months) rose slightly by 0.2pts.
• ‘Short term economic confidence’ (next 12 months) was up 0.9pts and ‘medium term economic confidence’ (next five years) fell 0.3pt.
• The ‘time to buy a major household item’ subindex rose 1.3pts.
ANZ Economist, Madeline Dunk said: “ANZ-Roy Morgan Australian Consumer Confidence edged up 0.3pts last week to move off its 2024 low. That said, the series remains very weak, averaging only 82.3pts in 2024 and 80.7pts in May. Confidence has been stuck below the neutral level of 100 for over two years.
Inflation expectations rose 0.1pts to 5.0% last week, possibly in response to the stronger than expected monthly Consumer Price Index data. While this is the highest reading in a month, the series has been trending downward and is well below the November 2022 peak of 6.8 per cent.”