The Sunday Mail
Consumer confidence in the United Kingdom (UK) slumped to a new low for nearly five decades in September amid persistently high inflation, a survey showed Friday.
The consumer confidence index for the UK, run by the market research company GfK, decreased five points this month to minus 49, the worst since records began in 1974.
Especially worrying are the two key future-facing indicators on personal finances in the coming year, down nine points to minus 40, and the economy in the next 12 months, down eight points to minus 68, said Joe Staton, client strategy director at the GfK.
“These numbers are where many forecasters look for signs of economic optimism among consumers and the results deliver very bad news in that respect,” Staton noted.
UK consumer price index (CPI) rose by 9,9 percent in the 12 months to August, as food and non-alcoholic beverage prices rose by 13,1 percent.
“Consumers are buckling under the pressure of the UK’s growing cost-of-living crisis driven by rapidly rising food prices, domestic fuel bills and mortgage payments,” Staton said. – Xinhua
