• Nearly every metric falls in July’s index
  • Overall index declines by (-0.8)
  • Household finance measures for the past 30 days (-0.2) and next 12 months (-2.4) deteriorate
  • Retrospective job security (-2.3) measure drops, as does outlook (-0.8)
  • House price measures for the past 30 days (-0.4) and next 12 months (1.2) both dip
  • Only metric that saw improvement was business activity outlook (+1.1)

Consumer confidence has dipped for the second month running, the latest data from YouGov and the Centre for Economics and Business Research (Cebr) shows. The headline measure dipped from 108.6 to 107.8 (-0.8) with all but one underlying measure declining.

YouGov collects consumer confidence data every day, conducting over 6,000 interviews a month. Respondents answer questions about household finances, property prices, job security and business activity, capturing their views on the past 30 days and on their forecast for the coming 12 months.

After two months of improvement across both measures, perceptions of household finances declined in July. Retrospective scores fell from 88.2 to 88.0 (-0.2), while outlook fell from 93.0 to 90.6: a drop of 2.4 points. Although some economists have reportedly been saying that the cost of living crisis is over – but in July, at least, Britons were less optimistic about their financial prospects.

Other measures saw similar declines. Job security scores for the past 30 days fell from 94.0 to 91.7 (-2.3), while outlook dipped from 117.2 to 116.4 (-0.8). For both measures, it’s the second consecutive month of declining scores. These employees were also more likely to report that business activity had lessened over the past month, with scores for this measure falling from 118.9 to 118.6 (-0.3).

However, there was upward movement in business activity outlook: this score rose from 107.2 to 108.3 (+1.1). The mood among homeowners, though, got worse. July saw a drop in retrospective scores from 115.9 to 115.5 (-0.4), while outlook went from 134.2 to 133.0 (-1.2).

Commenting on the results, Sam Miley, Head of Forecasting and Thought Leadership at Cebr, said:

“July was another volatile month for the YouGov/Cebr Consumer Confidence Index, with all but one of the constituent metrics worsening. The decline in the job security category was particularly strong, suggesting that employees are perceiving redundancies to be more likely. This aligns with the ongoing loosening of the labour market, characterised by rising unemployment, slowing earnings growth, and falling labour demand, and is likely feeding through to the weak expectations regarding households’ financial situation.”