Consumer confidence bounces back amid retailer pessimism

Consumer confidence bounced back from historic lows in February, despite a largely unchanged pessimism being found amongst retailers.

GfK’s long-running Consumer Confidence Index saw an increase of seven points to -38, while all five metrics of the measurement saw an improvement.

The monthly survey pools data from 2,000 individuals and use a number of questions to measure general consumer confidence across a number of factors.

The metrics measuring personal financial situations saw increases of five and nine points for the previous and next 12 months respectively, while feelings about the general economic situation for the next year saw an improvement of 12 points.

However, all scores remain negative, with feelings about the economic situation for the last 12 months sitting at a lowly -65 points.

This low confidence has been reflected in the feelings of retailers, with CBI’s Distributive Trades Survey finding many businesses expect their situation to deteriorate over the next three months.

The survey, which questions 136 companies including 59 retailers, found retail sales volumes were found to have been mostly unchanged in the year to February, although these are expected to fall again next month.

Martin Sartorius, CBI principal economist, said: “Whilst retail sales volumes were largely unchanged in the year to February and slightly above seasonal norms, firms remain pessimistic about their business outlook and are bracing themselves for yet another fall in sales next month.

“At the upcoming Spring Budget, the Government must take action to tackle the roadblocks in the way of the UK’s economic growth.”