Consumer confidence recovers marginally

Consumer confidence improved marginally last week, rising 0.2 per cent. This is the first recorded improvement since the final week of June.

Confidence in South Australia, New South Wales and Queensland rose, but declined in Victoria and Western Australia.

‘Weekly inflation expectations’ softened 0.2 percentage point to 5.8 per cent, its lowest since mid-June.

The subindex level performance was mixed. ‘Economic conditions next year’ strengthened 4 per cent,while ‘Economic conditions in the next five years’ recovered 3.3 per cent. ‘Current financial conditions’ declined 2.0 per cent, marking ten straight weeks of falls. ‘Future financial conditions’ edged up 0.1%.

‘Time to buy a major household item’ weakened for the third consecutive week, falling 4 per cent.

“Consumer confidence steadied as concerns about the economic outlook ebbed, likely driven by the strong labour-market print last week,” ANZ Head of Australian Economics, David Plank said.

“High inflation and rising interest rates are feeding into households’ weak assessment of their financial conditions. That is yet to show up in spending behaviour, however.

“Inflation expectations dropped to a one-month low, with global fuel prices moderating. Australia’s wholesale petrol prices declined last week fuelling hopes that retail prices will moderate. This will likely be good news for sentiment if it occurs.”

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