Canadian consumer confidence declines in April

OTTAWA, April 28, 2015 /CNW/ - Following a rebound in March, The Conference Board of Canada's Index of Consumer Confidence fell 13.6 points to 94.7 in April (2014 = 100).

"Relative to last month, Canadians were more pessimistic about their current and future finances, their willingness to make a major purchase, and future job prospects in April," said Julie Ades, Senior Economist, The Conference Board of Canada.  

The Index of Consumer Confidence measures consumers' levels of optimism regarding current economic conditions. It is constructed from responses to four attitudinal questions posed to a sample of Canadian households. This month's survey was conducted between March 30, 2015 and April 9, 2015.

The share of respondents expecting more job opportunities going forward fell from 11.5 per cent to 6.8 per cent in April. The increased pessimism about the state of the job market was felt everywhere, but most notably in Ontario and Alberta.

On the state of their current and future finances, the share of respondents who said they were financially worse off increased from 21.5 to 23.8 per cent.

Respondents were also slightly more pessimistic about whether this is a good time to make a major purchase. The share of respondents who said it is a bad time increased slightly from 40.3 per cent to 41 per cent.

Consumer confidence deteriorated in most regions in April, with only Atlantic Canada and Saskatchewan–Manitoba showing improvements. Alberta and Ontario reported the biggest declines in consumer confidence this month. Ontario's index saw a sizable decline of 22.6 points. Alberta's index fell by 27.2 points in April, the third decline in four months for the province. In fact, consumer confidence in Alberta is now more than 40 percentage points weaker than in January.

Follow The Conference Board of Canada on Twitter.

SOURCE Conference Board of Canada