Source: The Canadian Press

The Conference Board of Canada says its index of consumer confidence increased only slightly in September as Canadians began to worry more about the prospects for job growth in the country.

The think-tank said Thursday its consumer confidence index rose 0.3 of a point in September to 75, narrowly avoiding a fifth consecutive monthly decline.

Economists have warned in recent weeks that the global economic outlook is not good and that government debt problems in Europe and the United States could trigger another recession, undercutting employment.

The survey found that consumer attitudes towards the job market have further deteriorated. Only 14.8% of respondents said they expect there will be more jobs across the country in the next six months, a drop of 1.4 percentage points from August.

It’s also the lowest level of optimism towards the jobs market since April 2009 in the midst of the recession.

The domestic employment market hit a setback in August as the country lost jobs for the first time in five months, with unemployment edging up one tenth of a point to 7.3%, according to Statistics Canada.

The Conference Board said its latest poll also found Canadians are concerned about their own financial situation.

About 16% of respondents said their finances had improved over the past six months, a decline of 0.4 percentage points from August, while more people said their finances were worse (up 0.5 points to 21.2%).

More consumers who were polled also expressed that it was a good time to make a major purchase, such as a home or vehicle, after two months of decline. About 39.9% supporter a big ticket purchase, which was still nearly 10% below the level at the start of this year.

By region, Atlantic Canada was the only decliner in overall confidence, down 5.4 points to 65.5, on concern about finances. British Columbia posted the biggest increase, up 5.1 points to 91.2, driven by a most positive opinion on local jobs as the resource sector begins to show a new spark of activity.