Consumer confidence in Canada appears to be recovering, according to two studies released this week.
The latest Harris Decima Investors Group consumer confidence index rose slightly from May to August. Respondents were slightly less pessimistic about the economic outlook for the coming year, with 32% of respondents being pessimistic versus 34% recorded in the spring.
The number of people who said they expected their personal financial situation to deteriorate in the coming year also slid to 17% from 20%.
The index did not show any significant gains in optimism about the economy, which suggests that respondents were uncertain, but less fearful, about the future.
The TNS Canadian Facts' consumer confidence index also rose in August to 98.3 from a four-year low of 96.5 in July. The index suggests that consumer pessimism might have bottomed out in the past few weeks.
The TNS buy index, which gauges the degree to which people think that now is a good time to make a major purchase, rose to 90.0 from 85.6 in July.