British consumers are increasingly gloomy about the state of the UK economy, despite the end of the Iraq war and the recent hot weather enjoyed across the country, according to the latest figures.
Martin Hamblin GfK’s Consumer Confidence Index slumped to minus three this month, from a figure of minus one in July, despite recent encouraging economic news, such as the stock market recovery and fairly resilient consumer spending.
Although the index is considerably better than the eight-year low figure of minus 10 in March – when the Iraq conflict was at it’s height – this month’s reading is disappointing, as confidence has steadily grown every month since April.
Optimism about the state of the UK economy took a blow in August, with the index slipping by two points to minus 29, seven points down on the corresponding month last year.
