Behold the Chicken Chalmers economy via Westpac.
The Westpac–Melbourne Institute Consumer Sentiment Index dipped 0.5% to 84.6 in September from 85.0 in August. The pessimism that has dominated for over two years now is still showing no real signs of lifting. However, the focus does look to be shifting. While cost-of-living pressures are becoming a little less intense and fears of further interest rate rises have eased, consumers are becoming more concerned about where the economy may be headed and what this could mean for jobs.
Responses to additional questions on news recall give a clear sense of the factors influencing the consumer mood. These questions, run in March, June, September and December, ask about which news topics consumers recall and how favourable these were viewed.
