Aussies are feeling more confident about the economy, but pessimists still outweigh optimists.
The
Westpac Melbourne Institute Index of Consumer Sentiment has seen a modest improvement, the second month in a row that consumer sentiment has increased. The index rose by 1.9%, more than twice as much as it did in October. Housing features highly on the list of important purchases with the proportion of respondents agreeing that it’s a good time to buy a dwelling rising by 3.1% this month.
In spite of the rise, Westpac chief economist Bill Evans said the overall result was disappointing.
"The Index is 12.5% below its level of a year ago and 3.6% below its level before the lead up period to the Commonwealth budget in May. In fact, we now have seen nine consecutive months where pessimists have outnumbered optimists. That is the longest run of pessimists outnumbering optimists since the Global Financial Crisis and before that the recession of the early 1990s," Evans said.
