New Zealand consumer confidence eased in March as cautious consumers remained focused on debt. Confidence in Canterbury rose to the highest since before the earthquakes.
The ANZ-Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence measure eased to 110.2 in March from 113.3 in February. The Current Conditions index posted a 5 point decline to 104.8, while the Future Conditions index eased 1.9 points to 113.8.
“Household’s are less cautious than they were in 2008 and 2009, but are still cautious nonetheless,” said Cameron Bagrie, chief economists at ANZ. “Look no further than the mixed messages across key drivers of consumer sentiment. The labour market remains fickle. Wage gains are modest. Household debt to income is easing but - remains very high.”
Four of the five sub-segments that make up consumer confidence fell. A net 10 percent of households said they were worse off than a year ago, unchanged from February. A year from now a net 23 percent thought they’d be better off, little changed from the previous month’s 24 percent.
It is still perceived as a good time to buy big ticket household items even as sentiment dropped nine points to a net 20 percent
On a regional basis Canterbury recorded the highest lift in sentiment up 8 points to 117.4. This is the highest level since July 2010, before the first earthquake struck on Sept. 4.
Auckland remains the most confident city on 118.5, while Wellington recorded the largest drop falling 13 points to a national low of 100.9.
Confidence slipped for those respondents aged 25 or over and rose for those 24 years or younger. The largest drop in consumer confidence was measure in the 25 to 34 age group, falling 8 points to 113.8.
Female confidence slipped 5 points from 106.5, while male respondents remained unchanged.
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10 Comments
Are you feeling confident?
"Unravelling
The weaker countries drop out one-by-one
Fearing exit from the euro, ordinary Greeks empty their bank accounts in droves. The European Central Bank insists that Athens freezes people's accounts, or else it will pull the plug on the Greek banks. The Greek government falls, and its replacement decides enough is enough, announces a stop to all debt payments and a unilateral exit from the euro. The newly reintroduced drachma plunges in value.
With widespread anger at spending cuts and recession, there are growing calls in other, bigger, southern European countries, led by Italy's former prime minister, Silvio Berlusconi, to follow Greece's example. That sparks bank runs in the other countries, who in course do end up following Greece. At best a rump eurozone of Germany and France - and possibly Finland, the Netherlands and Austria - is all that remains. There is a risk this could lead to a "meltdown" scenario"
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-16098582
Here in Noddyland the socialista element are flat out fostering a festering fight over whatever comes to hand and by the end of 014 memories of the Clark farce will be dim....dim enough for fools to buy the pork slices from Shearer...and in the face of this the Nats et al will have to show some real leadership....that will be shock therapy for them!...
They now have 2 years and 8 months to effect the changes they should have started 40 months ago...
This super ministry might be the first sign that a razor is to be swung through the remains of Clark's farcical fat state sector where every socialist could be sure a job for life would be found for them.
My wonder was at all the wide-eyed wonders in the big barns, frantically doing up their little boxes to flog off to each other, thus all getting wealthy. ????
Did they stop to think, any of them? The only reason those things were so cheap, is that we don't make them anymore, someone paid $2 a day does. They are making real stuff, and saving real money.
We, however, seem to think that debt is money, and that tricked-up equity is good for gold. No need to make things any mre, we're above that. So smart are we, that we elected a non-productive creamer-off as our leader.
Confidence? I'd call it self-delusion.
Brain not in gear today PDK?.....the stuff that now costs half or less than it would have cost had the imports not been allowed in without tax on top...as in the past....means peasants have more cash left over to blow on fags booze lotto or to save as they wish......and the peasants not taking all day to make a pair of socks at the 100 year old NZ sock factory can shift their rumps into occupations that produce export returns....if only fathead govts didn't promise them the dole for their vote every three years.
Put it another way PDK...Asian peasants get the $2 a day to make widgets and NZ producers get $2 a minute to churn out the milk powder meat and cheese....
That's nonsense, Wolly. Nat party hack hat on today? You do change colour, don't you? I remember wondering at the gear-change just prior to the election. Me, I'm apolitical. The issues are bigger than them all, and none of them are anywhere near addressing them.
If you were right, we'd be richer and they'd be poorer. Govt increasing debt says not. Private hardly-reducing debt says not. Crafar bidding tells you who is cashed-up.
It was self-delusion on a grand scale, and given that the milk powder and cheese are oil-based, so is your last sentence.
Put the brain in gear PDK...and think when you read....we would be better off but for the FACT that our govts have seen fit to reward those who refuse to upskill or do the manual work that might make them tired at the end of the day...shameful demand that...benefit paradise PDK....that is the critical factor....now go away and think...!
Wolly you are talking rubbish....Such ppl are a minority.....lets look at what the top 1% have managed to do...when I see that in effect they have taken all of the vlalue of the growth in GDP for a decade if not 2 then these are the real parasites. The few on the bottom are a meaningless impact to you or I, its the blood and life suckers feeding from the top that are doing and have done the real harm.
regards
Been there done that. They'd be better off in the 100 year old sock factory, but your lords and masters thought they'd be better off competing with $2 a day.
Unfortunately, NZ doesn't work on $2 a day, you can't support the retailers with their current demands, on that. So we invent a fudge, which is benefits, which is Govt debt, which is unsustainable.
There comes in the overrider at that point; the end of growth, and the inability of expectations to be met. Typically, at some point this manifests as some form of disquiet. Arab Spring, Athens riots,
There has to be a lot of disquiet, I think its going to be huge. example I dont know how many ppl are in retailing but its what 70% of our GDP/economy? is going to go down a lot....half its present size or less, that is a lot of un-employed......Tourism....bye bye the lot, no more flights in means no overseas tourism, NZers too poor to have hols.....that is yet more un-employed....Then consider the skills/education they went into debt to get thinking the sector(s) had a future....Then think on tertiary education....2 sectors at least gone bye bye....huge impact on education needed....a lot less lecturers needed....yet more unemployed....where will they live? no jobs == no decent income.....lots of ppl homeless or selling houses into a buyers market....maybe in fact probably huge neg equity...yet more debt they will never pay. The knock ons and effects are mind boggling...
Who at that point is to blame? what can a Govn say to someone about tertiary debt they cant pay back that they took on because the Govn promised them growth for ever more? "You have to pay"? wtf....when its 1 person its that person's problem.....10 ppl, 10,000 OK, 100,000 ppl makes it the Govn's problem....like you say....ppl have to have a stake in something to want to keep it......too many wont have....
I think we will see some serious rioting throughout the world inside 5 years, even here in NZ. Too many ppl will have lost everything or wont get anything they expected based on the likes of JK's promises....and BE's of course. While JK can bugger off to hawaii, BE isnt so lucky I think. Its getting to the stage that I think if either or both are not swinging from a lampost inside of 2 decades I will be surprised....they need to think on what happened to say Saddam when the lies finally ended.
regards
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