Consumer confidence falls to 15 month low
Consumer confidence in the UK has fallen to a 15 month low with the Nationwide reporting a third consecutive month of falls. The outlook for the UK economy amongst consumers is now back to levels not seen since May 2009 as concerns regarding employment, the cost of living and disposable income in the UK continue to rise. If we're not careful there is the potential to talk ourselves into a very challenging and potentially long-term economic downturn which could set back the UK many years.
As we have mentioned on numerous occasions, consumer confidence is vital to any potential economic recovery in the UK because without this there is no starting point. While some people are blaming the financial media for "scare stories" there is no doubt that the situation and the outlook for the UK has deteriorated significantly over the last three months. Whether or not the Labour party may be proven correct in its demand that the UK government delay any public-sector budget cuts until next year remains to be seen.
When you consider that consumer confidence in the UK economy has been severely impacted of late we can only guess how difficult the situation might become when public-sector budget cuts really begin to hit home.
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