Consumer confidence lowest in a quarter century

December 22, 2008

22 December 2008

Consumer confidence lowest in a quarter century

The following article is extracted from the 22 December 2008 edition of “globeandmail.com”.

Consumer confidence has sunk for the third consecutive month, with Canadians fretting about the economy, their personal financial situations and future job prospects, the Conference Board of Canada reported Monday.

“Again this month, consumers indicated that they are financially worse off today than six months ago, and they expect to be worse off still six months from now,” the Conference Board said in reporting the results of its December consumer confidence index.

“In fact, the only time we've seen lower levels was during the recession of 1981-82, when the index hit historic lows.”

Glen Hodgson, the Conference Board's chief economist, said the rapid fall in energy prices – which makes it less expensive for Canadians to fill up their cars and heat their homes – has done little to dispel the gloom.

An increasingly pessimistic outlook on jobs has pulled consumer confidence down, the Conference Board said in its report, based on telephone interviews with 2,000 Canadians….

The Conference Board found that 21.4 per cent of consumers expect to be better off six months from now, while 17.8 per cent expect to be worse off.

“There was one bright spot in the survey. For the second consecutive month, an increasing percentage of consumers [28.8 per cent] said it was a good time to make a big-ticket purchase,” the Conference Board said.

This indicates that consumers feel there “are deals to be had,” a Conference Board spokeswoman said.


Topic(s): 
Canadian Economy & Politics
Information Source: 
Canadian News Channel
Document Type: 
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