LONDON: Consumer confidence in Britain slid at its highest rate in three months in December as the economic outlook had worsened, according to a survey by Nationwide Building Society.
Nationwide, the country's third largest mortgage lender, said Wednesday its index of consumer sentiment fell five points to 96 based on a survey of 1,000 people between 21 November and 19 December.
The company's executive director Stuart Bernau said in a statement that the gloomy view among consumers is perhaps not surprising as over the last 12 months the gross domestic product growth had almost halved. The economy had grown at the slowest pace since 1992 last year.
Nationwide's index measuring perceptions of the current economic situation fell 10 points, to 91, the lowest since May 2004. The index of expectations for the economy, jobs and household income fell 2 points to 99.
Of the three indexes making up the main index, the index of consumers' willingness to spend on expensive goods fell the most, 18 points to 103, the lowest in a year. Nationwide said the fall is normal in December as consumers tend to wait till Christmas is over for discount offers.
Nationwide also reported four straight months of rising house prices and said the values will go up as mush as 3 per cent in 2006.
The assessment appears to be somewhat contrary to other surveys and trading updates from high street stores, like Marks and Spencer Group, Next and John Lewis Partnership, which have all put forth positive results. The British Retail Consortium said like-for-like sales, which strip out the impact of new and closed space, rose by 2.6 per cent in December from the same month a year ago, which is well above expectations of 1.5 per cent growth.
In a separate study, the Recruitment & Employment Confederation and KPMG had come out with details showing the number of people gaining permanent jobs rose at the fastest for 14 months in December while employment of temporary staff rose at the sharpest rate for 13 months.
Posted
on : Thu, 12 Jan 2006 08:05 GMT | Credit Cards News
By : Rob Davis
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