January “Surprised” With Boost In Consumer Confidence

According to GfK, there was a raise of 4 points in consumer confidence from a four year low in December to - 9 in January. Five measures that have been used to calculate consumer confidence rose, which included a marked rise in likelihood to buy big ticket items like furniture, which was up from 1 to 5 points.

A similarly positive Outlook for consumer’s personal finances in the next 12 months saw a raise which was up from 2 in December to 6.

The general economy views over the next year also rose by 4 points to - 24, though effects from yesterdays leaked Brexit report. The report states that the economy is set to shrink 5% even with trade deals in place are not yet visible.

According to GfK’s head of market dynamics Joe Staton it was a “pleasantly surprised” by the figures, but warned that overall confidence is still nearly twice as low as December 2016.

“In the absence of good news about rising wages and declining inflationary pressures, this off-trend number could be a temporary blip rather than a strong sign of recovery,” he said.

According to a survey of 1200 companies conducted by Lloyds Bank, this has seemingly not deterred business, which found that confidence in the sector rose to a 9 month high.