Ireland: Consumer confidence improves in May
The KBC Bank Ireland/ESRI consumer sentiment jumped to 52.3 in May from 42.6 in April, which had marked the worst reading in over a decade. Thus, the index inched closer to 100-threshold separating pessimism from optimism among consumers.
May’s improvement in consumer sentiment was likely driven by the planned easing of confinement measures and an ameliorating trend in health outcomes. In May, consumers’ concerns over their personal finances in the year ahead turned optimistic, contrasting the pessimism in the previous month. Moreover, their outlook for unemployment turned less negative. In addition, households’ willingness to purchase large ticket items improved, as well as their appraisal of the general economic outlook.