Consumer confidence rebounds after July slump

Consumer confidence edged up two points to -10 overall in August, up against the fall to post-Brexit levels in July, according to the GfK index.

But head of market dynamics Joe Staton stressed that consumer confidence “still had a lot of ground to regain” and was down three points year on year.

The measure that reported the biggest rise was customers’ confidence in their personal finances over the past year, up four points against July to 2 and followed by shoppers’ confidence in their personal finances in the year ahead, up three points to 5.

Consumer confidence in the general economic situation over the past 12 months and year ahead both edged up one point to -30 and -27 respectively.

“Is this month’s rise significant? Or could we simply be witnessing a dead cat bounce over the dog days of summer?”

Joe Staton, GfK

The major purchase index also increased one point to 0 overall and the saving index went up one point to 6.

Consumer confidence in personal finances and savings all improved year on year, while sentiment around the wider economy and appetite to make big-ticket purchases declined.

“These figures must be seen against the backdrop of better news on inflation, public finances, jobs and growth prospects as the UK economy displays some signs of stability after a volatile start to the year,” said Staton.

“However, the Index has a lot of ground to regain to get back to black. So is this month’s rise significant? Or could we simply be witnessing a dead cat bounce over the dog days of summer?”