The ANZ-Roy Morgan Research (RMR) weekly consumer confidence index was released yesterday evening, which recorded a solid bounce after three consecutive weeks of falls.
Over the week ended 8/9 March, the RMR index rose by 3.8 points to 113.4 to be 2.2% lower over the month, 7% below a year ago, and in line with the long-run average (see next chart).
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The internals over March were broadly weak:
- The sub-index most correlated with household consumption – ‘better off financially compared to a year ago’ – fell over March. While it remains higher than levels seen in recent years, this sub-index has not shown any significant improvement over the past six months.
- All other sub-indices fell over March, except for ‘time to buy a household item’ which rose.
- The sub-indices most correlated with labour market indicators weakened.
Here’s how the ANZ-RMR consumer confidence index is now tracking against the monthly Westpac-Melbourne Institute consumer sentiment index, which registered a fall over March:
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