Conference Board of Canada says consumer confidence index down in November

OTTAWA – The Conference Board of Canada says its measure of consumer confidence has fallen for the second consecutive month.

The board says the index fell 0.8 points to 80.3 per cent for November, with sentiment increasingly negative on questions regarding current circumstances.

The board says only 16.7 per cent answered positively when asked if their financial situation had improved or worsened over the past six months. That compared with 17.2 per cent last month.

The number who felt their situation was worse increased to 19.4 per cent, up from 17.8 per cent.

The report said attitudes toward major purchases were also pessimistic. However, it suggested that Canadians were also more confident that the economy was turning around.

The survey was conducted between Nov. 1 and Nov. 12 and is considered by pollsters to have a margin of error is plus or minus 2.1 percentage points.