Consumer Confidence Rising

Are we finally coming out of this depressing recession? Are Canadians beginning to feel the pressure of the economic downturn slowly lifting? According to The Conference Board of Canada, the answer is apparently “yes”.

It was reported earlier today that consumer confidence has increased this month, marking the seventh consecutive month that this statistic has risen. This marks the longest streak since 2002. According to business reporter, Madhavi Acharya-Tom Yew, the board's survey found that consumer confidence has risen 2.5 points to 90.9 per cent.

In their own report, The Canadian Press noted that the percentage of consumers who felt that it was a good time to make a major purchase rose to 49.9 per cent – the highest level in nearly two years. 40.1 per cent of respondents felt that it was not.

Although the Conference Board admits that negative responses to such surveys still outweigh the positive ones, it was still found that the number of people who feel that they are better off financially now than they were six months ago has also increased by 1.3 points to 13.7 per cent.

Interestingly though, Acharya-Tom Yew notes that there was a 0.8 per cent decline to 27.5 per cent in the number of respondents who felt that their families would be better off financially six months from now.

Most of the people surveyed, 53.9 per cent, replied that they expect no change in their financial situation over the course of the next six months.

Acharya-Tom Yew notes that the survey indicates that Canadians are feeling more optimistic about the employment situation in the county. 72.8 per cent of respondents anticipate that there will, at least, be as many jobs as there are now in six months.

The survey of 2,000 Canadians, conducted in the first two weeks of September indicates that the country is either seeing better days financially or at least, really wants to.