United Kingdom: Consumer confidence increases in April
Consumer confidence came in at minus 30.0 in April, up notably from March’s minus 36.0. April’s result marked the best performance since February 2022. However, the index remained entrenched below the 0-point threshold, indicating that consumers were still pessimistic. Improved confidence could be linked to inflation having peaked, extra government fiscal support announced in the Spring budget, and an uptick in wage growth.
In April, consumers grew less pessimistic regarding general economic conditions and their personal financial conditions, and were more willing to make major purchases.
Regarding the reading, Joe Staton, GfK’s client strategy director, stated:
“There’s a sudden flowering of optimism with big improvements across the board. The eight-point jump in how we see prospects for our personal financial situation is a dramatic change that might suggest household finances are stronger than we thought. The brighter views on what the general economy has in store for us, with April’s six-point rise cementing a 20-point improvement since January, could even be seen as the proverbial ‘green shoots of recovery’.”