Consumer confidence level holds steady in January despite economy worries
New figures have shown that consumer confidence in the UK has stayed at the same level as last month in January as people adopt a wait-and-see approach regarding the outcome of the Brexit negotiations.
GfK’s long-running Consumer Confidence Index stayed level at -14 but two of the five measures used to calculate the score decreased.
Joe Staton, client strategy director at GfK said: ““With the overall index score stuck at -14 this month, UK consumers remain in a wait-and-see holding pattern in the face of political chaos in Westminster.”
The major purchase index stayed at the same level as December at 2 as the measure for people’s personal finances over the next 12 months rose by two points to 1.
Meanwhile, the measure for expectations for the general economic situation over the next 12 months decreased by one point -39 to mark the lowest level for more than seven years.
Staton added: “This is unsurprising given that consumers, companies and corporations thrive on certainty, which is in short supply just two months before the planned date for the UK’s EU-exit. The next few months promise to be turbulent for the consumer so will this measure for the economic outlook in the coming year drop even further?”
