While conditions are near pre-GFC highs in the business sector, Australian households are not nearly as optimistic. According to the Westpac-Melbourne Institute Consumer Sentiment Index, households are less pessimistic than a month ago but they are still on the negative side of the ledger. The index increased marginally after three months of falls to record a rise from 96.2 in June to 96.6 in July. Any reading below 100 indicates the number of consumers who are pessimistic is more than the number of consumers who are optimistic.
Confidence among those with mortgages actually rose while other parts of the survey indicated people were less confident regarding their family’s finances over the next twelve months. Survey respondents were slightly less pessimistic about keeping their jobs and their expectations of becoming unemployed were just a little above the long-term average. However, their view of becoming unemployed has essentially been static since October 2015 and at this stage an improving trend is not clearly evident.
