Consumer sentiment steady in November

Irish consumer sentiment held steady in November, beating disappointing readings from other countries including the US, Germany and the UK, and indicating that consumer panic may be lessening.

The KBC Ireland/ESRI Consumer Sentiment Index fell fractionally to 53.6 from 54.2 during the month, a marginal drop. The three-month average rose from 50.8 to 52.5, representing a modest but clear improvement.

However, worries over job security and the budget deficit continue to weigh on sentiment, with the November reading far below the survey's 14-year average of 92.4.

The Consumer Sentiment Index is made up of two sub-indices - an index of current economic conditions and an index of consumer expectation of their future financial situation, the economic outlook and employment expectations over the next 12 months.

Although consumers’ perception of their current situation improved rising from 77.1 compared with 74.7 in October, the Index of Consumer expectations has fallen to 37.7 compared with 40.4 a month earlier.

The relatively positive indicator comes as other countries saw consumer confidence drop. The US saw its indicators fall for the second month in a row, helped by concerns that the fragile economic recovery was doing little to significantly improve employment or income prospects.

German consumer confidence saw a similar trend while the UK recorded a large and broadly based drop in consumer confidence in November, the first monthly decline since January.

However, there was some improvement seen in France and Italy, leading to a broadly unchanged figure for the European Union.