Consumer confidence continues election bounce

By Leith van Onselen

Roy Morgan Research’s (RMR) latest consumer confidence report showed sentiment rising for a sixth consecutive week following the election of the Coalition.

According to the RMR, the consumer index rose to 122.9 points in the weekend of 14-15 September – the highest reading since the third week of April 2013 – and is up 10.4pts since former Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd, called the election.

While the RMR consumer confidence survey is inherently noisy, owing to its weekly frequency, it does tend to closely track the monthly Westpac-Melbourne Institute consumer sentiment index when averaged-out (see next chart).

As such, it is a fairly reliable indicator of the consumer’s mood.

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