Consumer confidence up in September
Consumers are feeling a little better than they did last month, suggesting they are “keeping their fingers crossed” in the run up-to the 31 October Brexit deadline, according to a new poll.
GfK’s long-running index of what shoppers are thinking moved up to (minus) -12 in September from -14 in August, meaning more people are still pessimistic than optimistic.
People are very downbeat about the economy but much more positive when it comes to their own personal financial situation, the survey reveals.
Joe Staton, client strategy director at GfK, says:
“More mixed signals this month as consumers continue to feel less than positive about the state of their personal finances and the general economy.
Yes, all sub measures are higher, but they are anaemic in the case of our purchase intentions and how we view our wallets, while the results on the wider economy are still depressed.
Since the Brexit referendum we have witnessed a long succession of negative Overall Index scores with the overall trend downwards. This month, British consumers appear to be treading water during this wait-and-see run-up to October 31st.
Confidence is an important indicator which typically increases as the economy expands and decreases when the economy contracts and so far, consumer confidence is holding up.
We certainly have a long way to go to match the record low headline score of -39 witnessed during the early days of the last recession. But will it stay that way? You can almost sense people are keeping their fingers crossed.”
