Economic Optimism Drives ‘Virtually Unchanged’ Consumer Confidence

Consumer confidence remains virtually unchanged as the country continues to stay in segregated lockdown across varying states. The overall consumer confidence – 103.3 – is currently below the weekly 2021 average of 108.6. With this in mind, it is 9.8 points above the same period as last year (93.5).

“Consumer confidence barely moved last week, rising just 0.2 percent,” said David Plank, the ANZ Head of Australian Economics. “Last week’s labour market data revealed some softness in the economy with employment falling by 146k in August due to the prolonged lockdowns.

“This might have dampened sentiment, which fell 4.9 percent in NSW and 1.1 percent in Victoria. But confidence rose 7.3 percent in Queensland and 6.7 percent in South Australia, making up for the fall,” he shared.

Victoria and NSW both saw a fall in confidence, but remains in positive territory, the Roy Morgan report explained. Premier Daniel Andrews recently announced the roadmap for Victoria out of lockdown, which has not impacted these results. They are expected to impact. the following week’s report.

Currently, an unchanged 14 percent of Australians are expecting good times for the economy in the next twelve months, whereas 24 percent (down 2ppts) are expecting bad times.

Furthermore, 34 percent of Australian consumers (down 1ppt) say that now is a good time to buy a major household item. In comparison, an unchanged 32 percent say that now is a bad time to buy.

“Falling COVID case numbers in NSW plus Victoria’s plan for opening may boost confidence over the coming week,” Plank explained. “A notable development was the jump in inflation expectations to 4.7 percent for a second time this month. This could be due to the increase in retail petrol prices in the past two weeks.”

The e-commerce landscape is changing. With a Power Retail Switched On membership, you get access to current e-commerce revenue and forecasting, traffic levels, average conversion rate, payment preferences and more! Sign up today and receive an Apple Watch Series 6 – Find out more here.