UK Primary Consumer Sentiment Index rises as summer’s economic scepticism starts to recede
UK consumer confidence appears to have rebounded after a two month decline, according to a survey by Thomson Reuters and Ipsos Mori.
September’s figures, released yesterday, show the Primary Consumer Sentiment Index
(PCSI) up 1.4 points from August, standing at 53.6 for September.
Looking further into the sub-indices that make up the PCSI, the growth seen in consumer confidence is strongly driven by perceptions of the current economic climate – up 2.4 points from August.
More modest gains are seen in perceptions of the current investment climate, a measure of how confident people feel in their ability to invest or save for the future (up 1.5 points), perceptions of job security (up 1.4 points) and future economic expectations (up 1.2 points).
The figures show that the growing economic scepticism seen through the summer may have eased off as events such as the Greek debt crisis became less prevalent in the media.
Bobby Duffy, managing director of the Ipsos Mori Social Research Institute, said: “This summer saw a number of events that may have made Britons feel uncertain about both the global and British markets.
“As the Eurozone and Chinese stock market crises appear less frequently in the headlines the British public may be becoming more confident in the current and future economic climates.”
The Thomson Reuters/Ipsos PCSI measures 11 key indicators of consumer confidence and outlook as perceived by consumers – aged 16-64 – in the UK. It has been providing aggregated global consumer sentiment data on a historical basis, since March 2010.