Consumer confidence still rising
August 31, 2009
Consumer Confidence rose a further 1.1 points last week to 123.7, according to the weekly Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence Rating, which showed a rating some 24.4 points higher than this time last year.
A rating above the 100 point mark shows optimists outnumber pessimists.
The rise in the weekly study has been driven by increasing confidence about the prospects for the Australian economy both in the short and long-terms thanks to a surging sharemarket, prevailing low interest rates, a robust housing market, signs of global recovery and moderate inflation.
In terms of the Australian economy, 40% of Australians contend that we will have ‘good times’ financially in the next 12 months (up 1% in a week and the highest since December 2007) compared to just 22% that say we’ll have ‘bad times’ financially.
In the longer-term, 55% of Australians expect ‘good times’ economically over the next five years compared to 10% (down 2%) that expect Australia to have ‘bad times’. The longer-term picture is up 4% to the highest level this century.
In terms of personal finances, 42% (down 1%) of Australians expect their family to be ‘better off financially’ this time next year compared to 13% (up 2%) of Australians that expect their family to be ‘worse off financially’. Compared to a year ago, 27% (down 2%) of Australians say their family is ‘better off financially’ compared to 31% (up 2%) of Australians that say their family is ‘worse off financially.’
“Australian GDP figures for the June Quarter are set to be released next Wednesday and the strong performance of the weekly Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence Rating during the first half of this year - including rising strongly throughout the June Quarter - suggests Australia is likely to have continued growing during this period,” Gary Morgan, Executive Chairman of Roy Morgan Research, said.
“Australian confidence about the long-term prospects for the economy over the next five years - a clear majority of 55% (up 4%) of Australians expect ‘good times’ economically - are a strong indicator of the underlying strength of the Australian economy over the long-term.”