Index of Consumer Confidence: June 2022

The monthly Index of consumer confidence is constructed from responses to four attitudinal questions posed to a random sample of Canadian households.

Document Highlights

Concerns over households’ future finances rose by 2.6 per cent this month. This increase in trepidation is likely due to higher inflation expectations over the next year and elevated fuel prices. The escalation suggests that consumers are worried that their purchasing power could erode further in the coming months.
Many households continue to feel inflation’s squeeze, with optimism over current finances dropping to 11.6 per cent. Meanwhile, those sharing a pessimistic view of their current finances increased to 32.5 percent, an increase of 3.4 percentage points from last month.
Canadians are less confident about job prospects. The share of confidence in job prospects decreased this month by 2.7 percentage points, with only 18.7 per cent of Canadians positive that more job opportunities will be available six months from now. This number is the lowest it has been in 16 months.
With increased interest rates and even higher interest rates on the horizon, only 12 per cent of survey respondents believed that now is a good time to purchase large-ticket items. This is a decrease of 2.8 percentage points from last month’s outlook. Furthermore, positive sentiments on major spending still have a long road to recovery when compared with the 2019 average of 31 per cent.