After falling dramatically in October, the Conference Board’s Index of Consumer Confidence slipped another 2.9 points in November and now stands at 71, the think tank said Monday.

“Consumer sentiment has fallen to depths previously reached only in 1982 and 1990, which were both periods of recession in Canada,” said Paul Darby, deputy chief economist, in a release. “The ongoing troubles in equity markets undoubtedly had a negative effect on consumers’ view of their family financial situations and future job prospects in their communities.”

“The one area for optimism is that 25.9% of respondents said it was a good time to make a major purchase, up slightly from the October results. The increase on this question may indicate that the slide in the index is bottoming out.”

Regionally, consumer confidence fell in the Prairies by the largest one-month decline on record.

Sentiment in British Columbia, Ontario and Quebec also declined, while the index in Atlantic Canada rose by just 0.2 percentage points.

The survey was conducted from November 6 to November 13. The margin of error is plus or minus 2.19%, 19 times out of 20.

IE