Irish consumer sentiment has declined in April to its lowest level since December 2017, according to analysis from the KBC Bank Ireland/ The Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI).
The latest findings fall in line with the see-saw pattern of improving confidence in one month being followed by a decline the following month.
The KBC/ESRI report indicated that limited gains in household finances and high profile layoffs could also have contributed to more downbeat views.
Global Concerns
Austin Hughes, KBC Bank Ireland, noted, “The drop in Irish consumer sentiment in April mirrored declines in similar confidence indicators in the US and the UK. This hints at common global influences that take many forms ranging from future threats to trade to more immediate pressures such as higher energy bills.”
The US and the UK both experienced stronger declines than usual because of the aforementioned issues. The US recorded its lowest level since January while the UK recorded its 28th consecutive negative monthly summary.
Hughes added, “The weakest element of the April sentiment survey was that relating to job prospects. This may owe something to some layoff announcements by high profile Irish companies that stirred concerns about job security. More generally, consumers may feel the Irish jobs market is still not delivering any marked recovery in pay growth.”
Feel Good Factor
April’s results highlight how uneven the progress of the Irish economic recovery has been for the consumers. The ESRI said that it has been “one and a half steps forward followed by one step back”.
The ESRI emphasised that there is an underlying trend improvement in Irish consumer confidence and that the positive answers ‘significantly outweigh’ the negative.
It explained that despite a visible upswing in the economy, it still lacks that ‘feel-good-factor’ to boost consumer sentiment.
© 2018 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Aidan O'Sullivan. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: European Supermarket Magazine.
