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Optimism grows as households feel financial pressure ease

Tahmina Mannan
Written By:
Tahmina Mannan
Posted:
Updated:
04/12/2012

Households are becoming more optimistic about the state of their finances and the economic outlook, according to the latest consumer confidence poll.

60% of British Households think that their personal finances will look up in the coming 12 months, according to YouGov’s UK Household Economic Activity Tracker (HEAT).

This is the greatest proportion since mid-2010.

The tracker also highlighted a growing confidence in the government’s handling of the economy, with a third of those expecting an economic recovery.

Joe Twyman, director of Political and Social Research at YouGov, said: “While in the main the public are still fairly negative about the economy and the government’s handling of it, George Osborne can take some comfort in the fact that this negative sentiment seems to be abating with optimism creeping in.

“We are now at the midway point in the life of this government and after more than two-years of some gloom people are going to be looking for relief. The challenge for the chancellor will be to show that this Autumn Statement is going to positively impact ordinary households.”

Also commenting on the results, ASR Chief European Economist Dominic White, said: “I suspect the reason people are becoming more confident in the government’s economic management is because they are looking at their own financial situation and seeing a modest improvement.

“The wider macroeconomic situation is still fraught with uncertainty, but it should be encouraging to the government that people are heading into 2013 feeling better about things than they did heading into 2012.”