The latest ANZ-Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence index dropped 1.4% on the final weekend of November as Omicron, that has since landed in Australia, joined the Covid variants.
Consumer confidence receded in Victoria, Queensland and Western Australia, but increased slightly in New South Wales and South Australia, the latter driven by less confidence about economic prospects over the next five years.
However, there was some good news for retailers with buying intentions for major household items rising 3%, the highest figure for the indicator since July.
According to ANZ head of Australian Economics, David Plank,while the bad news of Omicron was likely to have impacted sentiment it was not helped with new restrictions for international travellers being quickly imposed.
“Only 16.3% of survey respondents expect ‘good times’ for the economy over the next five years, the lowest since August 2020, although confidence in ‘financial conditions’ is holding up quite well,” he said.
“Weekly inflation expectations rose 0.2% but stayed below its recent high despite petrol prices surging 3.6% in the past two weeks.”