Consumer Confidence Rises for 10th Straight Week in Canada
The 10-week rally is the longest since Nanos began weekly tracking in 2013.
(Bloomberg) -- Consumer confidence continues to show signs of improving in Canada, inching higher for a 10th straight week, though gains are slowing.
The Bloomberg Nanos Canadian Confidence Index, based on a random survey, ticked up slightly to 46.2 last week, from 46 a week earlier. That’s up almost 10 points from a record low in April as the country gradually reopens from Covid-19 restrictions, but still hovering at about one-fifth below historical averages.
The 10-week rally is the longest since Nanos began weekly tracking in 2013. However, one potential concern is that sentiment may be a plateauing at below pre-pandemic levels. The pace of gains in the confidence index has slowed sharply over the past two weeks, with last week’s 0.2-point increase the smallest since May.
Every week, Nanos Research surveys 250 Canadians for their views on personal finances, job security and their outlook for the economy and real estate prices. Bloomberg publishes four-week rolling averages of the 1,000 responses.
Survey Highlights
- Canadians’ perceptions of their personal finances remains gloomy. Only 13% of respondents report being better off financially over the past year, close to all-time lows. About 36% say their finances have worsened. That’s well above pre-pandemic levels, but down from 42% in April
- About 55% of Canadians believe the economy will worsen over the next six months, well below the 80% in April but sill high historically. That number also has stalled in recent weeks
- There’s a similar pattern in the responses on job security. About 15% of Canadians say they feel insecure or somewhat insecure about their employment, down 10 percentage points from April figures, but still above pre-pandemic levels. More worrying, the pace of improvement in this gauge has slowed
- Real estate is the one area where positive sentiment is accelerating. The share of Canadians who anticipate price increases has doubled since May, to 19%, and there are fewer respondents worried about falling property values. Still, sentiment is well below pre-pandemic levels
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