Consumer confidence virtually unchanged after $750 COVID payments reinstated

And more people are feeling worse off than they did a year ago and less than 10 per cent expect things to improve.

On a state-based level consumer confidence was up in NSW, Queensland and South Australia but down in Victoria and Western Australia. This week’s small increase was due to slightly more positive views on prospects for the Australian economy going forward.

Now 21 per cent of Australians (down 1ppt) said their families are “better off” financially than this time last year compared to 46 per cent (up 1ppt), who said their families are “worse off” financially – the highest figure for this indicator for over two years since March 2020.

Looking forward, fewer than a third of Australians, 30 per cent (unchanged), expect their family to be “better off” financially this time next year compared to 33 per cent (down 1ppt), who expect to be “worse off”.

However, only 6 per cent (down 1ppt) of Australians expect “good times” for the Australian economy over the next 12 months compared to 39 per cent (down 3ppts), who  expect “bad times’

In the longer term, only 15 per cent (up 3ppts) of Australians are expecting “good times” for the economy over the next five years compared to 20 per cent (unchanged) expecting “bad times”.

When it comes to buying intentions now just 23 per cent (down 2ppts) of Australians, said now is a “good time to buy” major household items while 48 per cent (up 1 ppt), said now is a “bad time to buy”.

ANZ head of Australian economics, David Plank, said consumer confidence steadied as concerns about the economic outlook ebbed, likely driven by the strong labour market print last week.

“High inflation and rising interest rates are feeding into households’ weak assessment of their financial conditions,” he said.

“That is yet to show up in spending behaviour, however. Inflation expectations dropped to a one month low, with global fuel prices moderating. Australia’s wholesale petrol prices declined last week fuelling hopes that retail prices will moderate. This will likely be good news for sentiment if it occurs.”