Consumer confidence moves up in November: Conference Board

The increase came as the index rose in Atlantic Canada, Quebec, Ontario, British Columbia, and Alberta.

However, it slipped lower in Saskatchewan and Manitoba.

Conference board senior economist Julie Ades noted there can be some volatility from month to month, but since the end of 2013 the index has not shown much improvement.

“A lot of the recent weakness in consumer confidence is attributed to people’s perception of future job prospects in their community,” Ades said.

“Although our responses to this question are still relatively negative, there has been some improvements in October and November, particularly in Atlantic Canada, Ontario and Quebec.”

Alberta, which has been hit hard by the downturn in the price of oil, saw a five point increase to 50.5, however the index was still nearly 50 points below its average for 2014.

“Despite some ups and downs, the balance of opinion on the current finances, future job prospects, and major purchase questions has remained weak since the beginning of the year,” the report said.

Atlantic Canada saw the index increase 25.2 points last month to 156.4 for November as the balance of opinion in the region improved on all four of the survey’s questions.

The index is based on how respondents perceive their current finances, future finances, and future job prospects, and whether they think it is a good time to make a major purchase.

Overall, those questioned were more positive about their financial situation as 16.9% said they were better off now than six months ago rose, compared with 16.5% who responded that way in October.

The share who said they were worse off dropped to 24.3% from 27.1%.

Meanwhile, the balance of opinion on future finances also improved.

The proportion of those who said they expect to be financially better off six months from now increased to 23.1% from 21.6%. Those who said they expect to be worse off slipped to 16.5% from 17.2%.

The feelings on future job prospects improved but remained glum. Respondents who said they expect more jobs in their communities in the coming months increased to just 10.7% from 8.9%, while 28.6% expected the reverse, an improvement from 30.2% a month earlier.

Those who said now is a good time to make a major purchase such as a car or a house increased to 30.2% from 28.8%, while those who felt it was a bad time slipped to 41% from 43.3%.

The survey was conducted between Nov. 2 and 12.