Consumer confidence slips as fear of unemployment discourages spending

Tuesday, 15 September 2020

Consumer confidence slipped in September, Westpac has reported.

The bank said its quarterly confidence survey showed more households were saying their financial position had deteriorated in the wake of Covid-19 and low confidence was affecting their appetite to spend.

The drop in confidence was being seen across all age groups and income brackets, it said.

The Westpac McDermott-Miller consumer confidence index fell 2.1 points from June to 95.1, the lowest level since the financial crisis in 2008.

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Westpac said the continued decline in consumer confidence contrasted with other recent gauges of economic health which had started to turn upwards again.

“Looking into the details of September’s drop in confidence, an increasing number of households are telling us that their financial position has taken a knock in recent months.

“That’s consistent with the rise in joblessness,” the bank said.

“The number of households who think it’s a good time to make a major purchase has fallen to lows that we’ve only seen twice in the last three decades.”

The survey was based on interviews with 1599 people during the first 10 days on September.