During most of the period between 2014 and 2018 a divergence between consumer sentiment and business confidence in Australia was evident. Normally, the two sectors could be expected to generally track the same path, so an extended difference between the two was somewhat unusual. However, around July 2018, the two sectors converged again only to go their separate ways again in September. This latest survey has the consumer sector holding up while the business sector shows some signs of weakness.
According to the latest Westpac-Melbourne Institute survey conducted early in December, average household optimism fractionally increased as the Consumer Sentiment Index crept up from November’s reading of 104.3 to 104.4. Any reading above 100 indicates the number of consumers who are optimistic is greater than the number of consumers who are pessimistic. The long-term average reading is just over 101.