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UK consumer confidence has fallen to its lowest levels in more than three years, as people worry about inflation and interest rate hikes.
The S&P Global UK consumer sentiment index, a survey carried out since 2009 that is based on a panel of 1,500 UK households, shows that consumers have become increasingly downbeat in October.
The slump in household confidence to its gloomiest in more than three years, a time when inflation was still close to multi-decade highs, underscores the tough environment the government faces with the upcoming Budget.
Any ‘Burnham bounce’ has proved short-lived, eclipsed by the impact on the cost of living from events in the Middle East and the accompanying prospect of higher interest rates. October has brought a growing conviction among households that borrowing costs will rise imminently as the Bank of England seeks to tame inflation.
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