Consumer confidence on the up

Consumer confidence in the UK has remained at its highest level since the recession hit and expectations for the next six months are optimistic, according to Nationwide.

Consumers

According to the building society’s November Consumer Confidence Index report, confidence remains unchanged at 73 points for the second consecutive month.

The news follows expectations from WPP media agency network GroupM predicting an economic upturn in the UK advertising industry may come out of a recession earlier than predicted.

Global ad spend is also tipped to slightly increase in the new year.

According to the Nationwide, optimism about the future economic situation was strong in November. Of the 1000 people surveyed, 84% believed that the economic situation would be the same or better in six months time.

However, confidence in the present economy fell, with the proportion of consumers who believed the current situation to be in good shape dropping to 7%.

Martin Gahbauer, Nationwide’s chief economist, says: “In the last few months, consumer confidence has lost some of the upward momentum evident earlier in the year. However, expectations for the next six months have not abated.”

Last month, the index found that fears of unemployment and other economic uncertainties were still having a negative effect on spending.