Canadians' consumer confidence on the rise

A new report from Nielsen might help you determine which shoppers are ready to buy, and which are just window shopping. And the research shows Canadians just might be ready to open their wallets.

The Global Consumer Confidence Report looked at more than 30,000 respondents in more than 60 countries, measuring impressions of local job prospects, personal finances and immediate spending plans.

The report indicated consumer confidence in North America is on the rise, with Canadians’ spending intentions increasing to 51 per cent.

In North America, 27 per cent of respondents said the economy was their biggest or second biggest concern for the next six months – down from 34 per cent in the previous quarter. Concern over food prices also dropped 6 points to 15 per cent.

Job security worries dropped 1 percentage point to 16 per cent. Similarly, in Canada the outlook for jobs increased 6 per cent to 56 per cent.

“It is still early to tell, but the newly created jobs may lead to broader gains in consumer spending, given that they bring a meaningful wage growth with them,” said Carman Allison, vice-president of consumer insights, at Nielsen. “For starters, consumers are regaining optimism which is a first step to spending revival.”

On a global scale, consumer confidence has been on a steady incline for the past two and a half years. It has been over a pre-recession level for the past three quarters, which Nielsen says says reflects an outlook of cautious optimism.

Consumers seem more positive about job prospects and spending, and less concerned about the economy and job security.