Consumer confidence down one point in December
Consumer confidence fell by one point in December as consumers became more cautious about making big purchases.
GfK’s long-running Consumer Confidence Index decreased to -13 in the month.
Joe Staton, head of market dynamics at GfK, said: “It has been a slipping and sliding year. In fact, we have not been in positive territory for nearly two years.”
GfK’s measure for the forecast for personal finances over the next 12 months stayed the same this month at +2 while the measure for expectations for the general economic situation over the next 12 months also stayed level with last month at -28.
However, the major purchase index declined by one point to -4. This marks a fall from +10 at the start of the year.
Looking ahead, Staton said: “We need to have a better sense of how Brexit will pan out, and also of how quickly and how far interest rates will rise. But none of this will be resolved quickly so there’s every likelihood that 2018 will take us lower.”
