British Retail Consortium reveals job concerns are hitting consumer confidence.
The latest consumer confidence survey from Nielsen and the British Retail Consortium (BRC) has shown that UK consumers are unsure about the future.
According to the survey, confidence has fallen by nine points since October 2008, reaching 65 - the lowest value since the study began in 2004. In May 2008 the index stood at 79, while it peaked at 101 in spring 2006.
Consumer confidence is quantified by asking internet users three questions - about their job prospects in the next year, the state of their finances in the next year and whether they would make many purchases based on current prices and circumstances. Respondents answer excellent, good, not so good or bad with points allocated accordingly.
The BRC suggested that it was job prospects that had mainly hit consumer confidence, with 86 percent responding that they felt "negatively" and 42 percent "bad".
"Many people have now had some sort of first hand experience of job losses, either within their own workplace or through friends or family members losing jobs, so it is little wonder that almost nine out of ten people think that job prospects look grim for the coming year," said Justin Sargent, managing director of Nielsen, UK. "With such concerns and little hope of pay increases for many of those in employment, we would expect confidence in personal finances and the impetus to spend to suffer as well."
