Consumer confidence marginally down

In May the indicator willingness to buy was 1 point down on April. Although consumers were less negative about their own financial situation in the next 12 months, they thought it was not a favourable time to purchase expensive items. Opinions on their own financial situation in the past 12 months hardly changed.

Consumers’ opinions on the economic climate were slightly more negative in May. They were more pessimistic about the economic situation in the next 12 months than in April, but their opinions on the economic situation over the past 12 months improved marginally.

Fewer consumers expect unemployment to rise in the next 12 months. In May, half of them expected unemployment to grow, whereas in February 7 in every 10 consumers were anticipating higher unemployment figures. According to the latest data on unemployment published by Statistics Netherlands today, unemployment dropped in the period February-April 2010 for the first time in nearly 2 years.

Consumer confidence, seasonally adjusted