Italy: Consumer confidence improves in August
Consumer confidence rose to 98.3 in August from July’s 94.8.
The uptick came on the back of an improvement in consumers’ views of future conditions. In contrast, consumers’ sentiment regarding their personal conditions were unchanged.
ING’s Paolo Pizzoli said:
“The idea that the re-opening effect might have continued over the summer is finally supported by another bit of good news coming from the consumer front: the rebound of consumer confidence is back to June’s level. The absolute level of the index remains very low (close to 2020 lows), but August’s rebound signals that the deterioration did not accelerate over the summer. The resilience of the labour market (helped by tourism-related hirings) and the strong measures put in place by the government to limit the impact of gas and electricity price shocks on households’ balance sheets have very likely supported consumers’ spirits.”