Consumer confidence falls in May on worries about jobs, economy: RBI Survey

Consumer confidence declined in May 2019 due to deterioration in sentiments on jobs, price levels and the economy, according to an RBI Survey. After a sharp upsurge to 104.6 in the March 2019 round, the consumer confidence index fell to 97.3, suggesting that Indians turned pessimistic about jobs and price levels, the Consumer Confidence Survey (CCS) showed.

While there were negative sentiments with the sign of deterioration compared to last round with respect to employment situation and price level, the respondent expressed positive sentiments with the sign of deterioration on the economic situation, income and spending behaviour, the survey said. "Weakening confidence is primarily attributable to the deterioration in sentiments on the economic situation and employment," RBI said.

The Consumer Confidence Survey (CCS), which was conducted in 13 major cities, is based on more than 5,200 responses on households' perception and expectations on the general economic situation, employment scenario and the overall price situation and their own income and spending. For the one year ahead expectations compared with the current situation, the consumer confidence fell to 128.4 in May as against the all-time high of 133.4 in March.

The respondents expressed negative sentiments with the sign of deterioration compared to last round when it came to price level expectations. There were positive sentiments with the sign of deterioration on responses about the economic situation, employment, income and spending.

The one year ahead outlook also turned out to be less optimistic, more than 60 percent of respondents expect improvement in the general economic situation in the year ahead, RBI said.