May 14th, 2009

The Nationwide Consumer Confidence Index is on the rise, according to its latest findings, released this month.

Although it’s not boom time, and (of course) some concerns remain, there are some decidedly cheery signs: Consumer Confidence rose by 8 points – the largest single monthly rise for two years – whilst the Spending Index continued its slow climb.

Commenting on these figures Nationwide’s Senior Economist, Martin Gahabauer observed “a strong rebound in global equity markets”, “signs of improvement in housing market indicators” and “a number of the world’s largest banks [announcing] a return to profits…[which] may signal the start of a thaw in the money markets”.

He also remarked that some 26% of those questioned “now believe that the economic situation will be better in six months time – a figure not seen since the bank bail-out scheme was announced in October last year”.

Things could indeed be looking up.