Ireland: Consumer confidence rebounds in January
Consumer confidence rebounded to 81.9 in January from December’s 74.9. Consequently, the index moved closer to the 100-threshold which separates optimism from pessimism among consumers. Thus, consumers remained pessimistic, albeit less so than last month.
The stronger reading was due an across-the-board increase in the index’s subsectors, as fears regarding the Omicron variant’s potential economic impact eased. Indicators reflecting consumers’ view of the macroeconomy strengthened most significantly. With recent data showing unemployment continued to fall in December, a strong labor market concerns that the variant would hit employment were likely calmed. Given that the survey was conducted before the decision to remove most remaining Covid-19 restrictions in late-January, February’s reading is likely to see a further increase.