Roy Morgan confidence poll confirms consumer sentiment stalling

Thursday 18th March 2010

First-time workers and young women are becoming more pessimistic about the economy, while 25 to 34 year-olds are feeling relatively chipper, according to the latest ANZ-Roy Morgan consumer confidence survey.

While optimism about current conditions remains stable, the outlook for the economy in a year's time is less rosy, leading to the second fall in two months in the index to 121.8 in March, from what had been a two year high of 131.4 in January.

Expectations for the economy 12 months out have dropped the most, led by a 15 point drop among 18 to 24 year olds, albeit that they are a fairly optimistic bunch anyway, with an index rating of 147.3.

"Younger females in the North Island are less optimistic," said the survey of 993 New Zealanders aged over 14, questioned in the first two weeks of March.

The results are consistent with a similar stalling of sentiment found in the December quarter by the rival Westpac-McDermott Miller confidence index, released this week.

Future expectations are much stronger positive compared to current sentiment, despite some caution creeping into the public mood, and expectations for five years out were at their highest in the history of the long-running survey, with a net 64% of respondents optimistic over the medium term.

Businesswire.co.nz

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