Australia’s weekly consumer confidence rises again

Australia’s weekly confidence index rises again after falling in the prior week. The consumer confidence index rose 0.5 percent to 97.5. ‘Current finances’ gained 0.5 percent, the third consecutive weekly gain. Meanwhile, ‘future finances’ gained 1.4 percent.

Economic conditions came in mixed, with ‘current economic conditions’ gaining 2.6 percent, while ‘future economic conditions’ dropped 2.6 percent.

‘Time to buy a household item’ rose by 1.3 percent, compared to a fall of 5.7 percent in the previous reading. The four-week moving average for ‘inflation expectations’ was stable at 3.2 percent.

“Confidence resumed its climb last week, with a modest gain. Confidence in future financial conditions is now back to the early March level, which is a solid turnaround given the impact the pandemic lockdowns have had on employment and wages. The contrast we expect to see between the May labour market and retail sales data may confuse the picture somewhat, but the continued easing in the lockdowns seems likely to be a positive force for sentiment for now”, commented ANZ Head of Australian Economics, David Plank.