Korea: Consumer confidence falls to a nearly two-year low in November
The Bank of Korea’s composite consumer sentiment index fell further into pessimistic territory in November. The index landed at 96.0 points in November, which is down from 99.5 points in October, and represents a nearly two-year low. The headline figure is below the crucial 100-point threshold that separates pessimism from optimism among households. Waning sentiment in November came as the labor market has shown sluggish signs in recent months; the U.S.-China trade war has continued to rage; inflation has accelerated; and the stock market has underperformed.
Specifically, the reading in November was due to a broad-based worsening of consumer sentiment. The largest deterioration came from consumers’ perspectives of domestic economic conditions, both current and future, which decreased substantially compared to the prior month. Moreover, consumers had lower assessments of their prospective living standards, incomes and spending levels in November compared to October, while their take on current living standards also slipped.