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The ANZ-Roy Morgan consumer confidence index rose another 0.6 points to 115.7 in the week ended 22 May 2016, and continues to track above the long-run average of 112.7 (see next chart).
The index has risen by 3.6% over the past four weeks.
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ANZ senior economist, Jo Masters, attributed the improvement in confidence to last week’s jobs report (which was actually poor), solid auction clearance rates, the recent RBA rate cuts, and improving share markets.
The below chart, which plots the most recent Westpac-Melbourne Institute Consumer Sentiment index against the latest ANZ-RM Consumer Confidence index, shows both indices displaying slight optimism and tracking each other closely:
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About the author
Leith van Onselen is Chief Economist at the MB Fund and MB Super. He is also a co-founder of MacroBusiness.
Leith has previously worked at the Australian Treasury, Victorian Treasury and Goldman Sachs.
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