As the housing market continues to slip and Canadians experience worries over high debt, consumer confidence has dropped once again, according to TNS data released this morning.
Consumer Confidence Index has fallen more than two points to 94.4 in April, compared with 96.5 in March. This remains well below January’s figure of 99.1.
“Canadians’ confidence in the economy is slipping quickly back to lows that we haven’t seen since during the Great Recession [of 2008-09],” said Norman Baillie-David, TNS’s senior vice-president and director of the monthly tracking study.
“The continued environment of public-sector austerity, combined with high consumer debt, a deliberately slowing housing market and poor job prospects are all combining to create a perfect storm of pessimism among Canadians who increasingly are believing that the situation right now is not good.”
The TNS study also found that the Present Situation Index, which measures how Canadians feel about the economy, saw a sharp drop in April to 92.7 from 97.3 in March.
The Buy Index measures how Canadians feel about whether or not it is a good time to purchase a big-ticket item such as a car. This figure increased to 92.2 in April from 91.0 in March.
“This probably reflects some pent-up demand as well as the beginning of spring and some normal spending on seasonal renovations and upgrades,” said Baillie-David.
