Austria: Consumer confidence remains unchanged in December but views on the year ahead improve
Consumer sentiment remained stable at 9 in December for the third month in a row and easily above the critical zero-point mark that separates optimism from pessimism among Austrian households.
While the headline reading did not show any movement, the underlying components did see some changes. Households became more optimistic about their financial situation in the year ahead but their views on the general economic situation in the same time frame became less rosy. Nonetheless, households’ views on the labor market improved and they considered the current time to be better suited to purchase big ticket items, yet their intentions to save over the next 12 months also ticked up. On the other hand, households look back at their financial situation more favorably while their view on the general economic situation in the past 12 months became less rosy.