Australia’s consumer pessimism persists

“The pessimism that has dominated for over two years now is still showing no real signs of lifting,” said Matthew Hassan, a senior economist at Westpac. — Bloomberg

Canberra: Australia’s consumer confidence dipped in September due to rising concern about the economic outlook and employment prospects with interest rates at a 12-year-high and expected to remain there for the remainder of the year.

Sentiment fell 0.5% from the prior month to 84.6 points, with pessimists heavily outweighing optimists given a reading of 100 is the dividing line, a Westpac Banking Corp survey showed yesterday. The index has held below 100 since March 2022.