Canadian consumers feel more economic confidence in September: Conference Board

OTTAWA – A monthly measure of Canadian consumer confidence has hit its highest since 2010, although it remains below a level that could be described as “optimistic.”

The Conference Board of Canada says its index, based on interviews early in September, rose 6.2 points to 91.

The Ottawa-based group says British Columbia was a driving force but all regions across Canada showed improved overall consumer confidence since August.

Among other things, there was more optimism about current and future finances among those surveyed nationally between Sept. 5 and 17.

There was overall pessimism about the future job situation, although negative responses declined by 4.9 points to 18.8 per cent and positive responses increased by 1.8 points to 15.9 per cent.

There were also fewer people who said it was a good time to make a major purchase, with only 43.6 per cent of respondents saying yes — a decline of 2.7 percentage points.