March’s ANZ-Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence index fell sharply into negative territory at 91.3 points from last month’s 101.1 points, with any score under 100 indicating pessimism, as the Middle East conflict created significant uncertainty for the economic outlook and was already hitting people in the back pocket.
A net negative 14 percent of households think it is a good time to make a major purchase, a net 10 percent expect to be better off this time next year, down from last month’s net 20 percent, while a net negative 20 percent feel worse off now, consumers believe inflation will rise to 5.7 percent in the next two years.
Households were caught in a perfect storm of higher fuel prices and rising mortgage rates, with early evidence suggesting they are closing their wallets and both firms and households thinking twice about spending decisions as confidence dropped even further in real time to under 80 in the final week of sampling.
Image credit: Towfiqu Barbhuiya
Love how you leave it to the commentators to do the editorial:
We got screwed!