Spending drops to pre-JobKeeper levels afr.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from afr.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Consumer Confidence Plummets as Half of Australia Enters Lockdowns
Consumer confidence experienced its sharpest weekly drop since the start of the CCP virus pandemic as states announce lockdowns one after another to contain the Delta variant of the coronavirus.
Currently, over half of all Australians are now in lockdown after South Australia announced restrictions were coming into force from 6 p.m. Tuesday, after five cases were detected in the state, joining the New South Wales and Victoria.
The ANZ-Roy Morgan consumer confidence index also plummeted by 5.7 points to 104.3, pushing the index below the weekly average for 2021. However, it was still higher than the same week in 2020.
MacroBusiness
Access Subscriber Only Content
at 10:40 am on July 14, 2021 | 0 comments
The ANZ-Roy Morgan consumer confidence index rose 2.0% to 110.0 points in the weekend of 11-12 July despite the worsening virus outbreak in Sydney and the extension of the city’s hard lockdown.
Unexpected rebound.
There are 913 words left in this subscriber-only article.
All the subindices registered a gain. ‘Current financial conditions’ rose 0.4%, while ‘future financial conditions’ improved 2.0%.
‘Current economic conditions’ gained 1.7%, while ‘future economic conditions’ increased by 3.7%.
‘Time to buy a major household item’ rose 2.0%. ‘Weekly inflation expectations’ increased by 0.3ppt to 4.1%, pushing the four-week moving average up 0.1ppt to 4.1%.
Commenting on the result, ANZ Head of Australian Economics David Plank noted:
Date Time
GDP boosts consumer confidence
Consumer confidence continues to rise, jumping 1.5 per cent last week as Australia reported stronger-than-expected fourth-quarter economic growth and ANZ job ads surged.
‘Current financial conditions’ gained 1.5 per cent following a two-week decline, while ‘future financial conditions’ improved 1.1 per cent.
‘Current economic conditions’ rose 3.6 per cent and ‘future economic conditions’ registered a gain of 2.1 per cent – almost reversing the fall of 2.4 per cent the week before.
‘Time to buy a major household item’ softened 0.8 per cent. ‘Weekly inflation expectations’ dropped to 3.8 per cent (down 0.1 percentage points), with the four-week moving average steady at 3.7 per cent.
Date Time
Snap lockdown dampens confidence
Consumer confidence dropped 1.3 per cent over the weekend of February 13 and 14, but remains near its long-run average. The assessment deteriorated on all subindices, except ‘current financial conditions’.
‘Current financial conditions’ was up 0.2 per cent, while ‘future financial conditions’ dropped 2.8 per cent, its sharpest weekly decline in over seven months.
‘Current economic conditions’ declined 1.8 per cent and ‘future economic conditions’ weakened 1.8 per cent. ‘Time to buy a major household item’ softened 0.3 per cent. The four-week moving average for inflation expectations was steady at 3.7 per cent.
“The weakness in consumer confidence comes on the back of Victoria’s snap lockdown and associated border closures,” ANZ Head of Australian Economics David Plank said.