Consumers now have an increasingly grim view of the economic outlook, which could further pressure on the struggling retail sector.
Pessimism has returned as the dominant emotion among consumers, further highlighting the current fragile nature of the economy.Consumers' views on the economic outlook and family finances suffered the steepest decline in March
It follows a fall in business sentiment, with both surveys seen as a good barometers of future economic performanceThe confidence index again shifted below the 100 level which divides net optimism from pessimism — the higher the number, the more optimistic consumers are. The survey was conducted earlier this month either side of the release of fourth quarter GDP data showed the economy had slowed sharply in the second half of 2018 to an annual pace of just 1 per cent growth."Those collected before the March 6 release had a combined index read of 100.7. Those collected after the release had a combined read of 92.7, an 8 per cent fall."
The weak consumer reading follows a similar slide in business confidence and conditions in the most recent NAB survey.
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