Seasonal lift for UK consumer confidence

A sunnier consumer disposition during May brought a three-month standstill in consumer confidence to an end, with a three-point uptick bringing the score to -10.

According to GfK’s monthly Consumer Confidence Index, four of the measures used to compile the data increased and one remained the same.

Joe Staton, Client Strategy Director at GfK, said consumers had managed a “seasonal spring in their step.”

Although the overall index score is still in negative territory, Staton remarked on the stronger positives in measures about how consumers view their personal financial situation – “a key metric impacting day-to-day spending,” he said, adding that this was coupled with a less negative view of the general financial situation across the UK in the coming year.

Staton also commented on the Government’s forecast of an economy showing modest growth, where inflation is under control, unemployment is at multi-decade lows and the employment rate is at a record level.

“But before we see a leap back into the brighter positive numbers last seen in January 2016,” he cautioned, “consumers will need to be convinced in heart, head and wallet that Brexit’s murkiness has finally come to an end. And there are potentially dark clouds on the horizon with the next EU deadline of October 31^st.

Tags: consumer confidence may 2019, gfk consumer confidence index

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