10 Aug 2012

Consumer confidence picks up slightly

6:58 am on 10 August 2012

Consumer confidence has picked up slightly, with the ANZ-Roy Morgan Consumer confidence index rising 3 points to 114 in August.

A reading above 100 indicates optimism.

ANZ chief economist Cameron Bagrie says consumers remain wary but the trend for the last 12 months has been one of mild improvement.

Respondents still feel worse off, though less so than a month earlier, and are more optimistic about their own financial prospects over the coming year.

ANZ chief economist Cameron Bagrie says confidence is cautiously inching up and there's been a mild improvement in the last 12 months.

He says the catalysts are likely to include low interest rates, property prices and average weekly earnings are up 5% on a year ago.

Mr Bagrie says despite that consumer confidence is still not increasing very rapidly because there are still shackles including a weak national balance sheet, a reasonably poor household savings rates and job uncertainty.

The ANZ's composite growth indicator, which combines its business and consumer sentiment surveys, pointed to growth of around 2.4%.