Consumers "relaxed" about job prospects
Thu 10 Jul 2008
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Consumers remain relaxed about the current number of jobs, Nationwide has said. Its Consumer Confidence Index reported 37 per cent of people still believe there will be many or some jobs available in six months time. "While consumers appear to be fairly relaxed about the availability of jobs, with unemployment beginning to rise, we are likely to see a change in labour market sentiment over the coming months," commented, Fionnuala Earley, chief economist. "This month's drop in confidence is to be expected given the recent run of bad news." The lender's confidence indicator fell to 61 points in June - more than half of all respondents (53 per cent) said they expect the economic situation to worsen. The index showed only 16 per cent believe their pay will rise in the coming six months, five per cent less than in May and ten per cent less than this time last year. Unison, the public services union, has announced call centre workers will strike over changes to work conditions. The move follows separate industrial actions by tanker drivers, and proposed walkouts by distribution workers, council employees and teachers.
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