Canadians are taking an increasingly gloomy view of the economy, according to a survey released Thursday.
TNS Canada said its consumer confidence index has dropped four months in a row from its high of 100.3 in June to 92.5 in October, as ongoing stock market turmoil, bad U.S. economic news and the unresolved European debt crisis keep consumers jittery.
“The global economy has had nothing good to offer Canadian consumers in terms of news and the result is that our confidence continues to suffer,” said Norman Baillie-David, vice-president at the market research company.
“Canadians certainly don’t see the end of these problems any time soon and the fear now is that the downward slide in confidence will cause Canadians to tighten their holiday spending plans, which will serve to bring the world’s problems home to the Canadian economy.”
The Present Situation Index, which measures how Canadians feel right now, dropped from 96.4 in September to 95.2 in October.
The Expectations Index, which measures people’s outlook for the economy six months from now, slid from 98.9 in September to 98 in October.
“Canadians certainly aren’t seeing any light at the end of the tunnel. Right now, it’s just looks like a longer tunnel” said Baillie-David.
The Buy Index, which gauges the extent to which Canadians feel now is a good time to buy a big-ticket item – like a car or household appliance – fell from 95.5 to 93.4.
The telephone survey of 1,015 Canadians took place between Oct. 3 and Oct. 7. Pollsters claim a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.
