Australia’s weekly consumer sentiment index falls again

Australia’s weekly consumer sentiment eased. The ANZ-Roy Morgan Australian consumer confidence index dropped nearly 2 percent last week, with softness in all the sub-indices. This was the fifth fall in a row and the largest weekly fall in a month.

‘Current finances’ dropped 0.1 percent after rising for three consecutive weeks. ‘Future finances’ dropped 1.6 percent, the third straight weekly fall. ‘Current economic conditions’ dropped for the sixth consecutive week, dropping 2.4 percent, while ‘future economic conditions’ dropped 0.8 percent. ‘Time to purchase a household item’ also worsened, dropping 4.2 percent. ‘Inflation expectations’ gained 0.1 percentage point to 3.4 percent.

“Confidence continues to deteriorate, with the fifth straight decline. Sentiment has dropped almost 10 percent from its high at the end of May. The rise in pandemic related deaths in Victoria and new case numbers rising in Sydney seem to be sapping confidence. The reductions in the Jobkeeper and Jobseeker payments from the end of September may have also weighed, with ‘Current economic conditions’ falling sharply and the improvement in ‘Current finances’ stalling at a low level. Inflation expectations rose again, with the four week moving average at its highest level since mid-May. This lift comes just ahead of the Q2 CPI data, which is likely to show the biggest ever fall in headline inflation”, commented ANZ Head of Australian Economics, David Plank.