Have UK consumers returned from the dead?
In a reflection of recent upbeat statements with regards to the UK economy it looks as UK consumers are about to return from the dead. A report by the Nationwide Building Society showed the index of consumer confidence increased from 54 in May to 58 in June with many consumers apparently more upbeat about the prospects for the UK economy in the short to medium term.
When you consider we have seen upbeat statements regarding the property market, the IMF today suggested the UK recession would end sooner than previous expected, the economy shrank at the slowest rate for the last 12 months, there does appear to be some hope for the future. However, we have yet to see any great improvement in liquidity in the mortgage market and unemployment is still set to rise significantly over the next 12 months with many suggesting that the overall figure could reach 3 million before it starts to fall.
Even though there are some niggling concerns in the background, voiced by the likes of the Bank of England, it appears that the UK as a whole is more upbeat than at any time over the last 18 months. Hopefully we will see the UK economy stagnate in the third quarter of 2009 and then kick-on towards end of 2009 into 2010.
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