Taiwan’s consumer confidence improved further this month from last month as the job market showed steady improvement amid gains in the local currency and stock markets, a survey by National Central University showed yesterday.
The consumer confidence index picked up 0.05 points to 80.19 this month, the highest since February 2004 at 83.7, though the reading remained below the neutral threshold of 100, said the survey, which was conducted by the university’s Research Center for Taiwan Economic Development.
The employment sub-index reported the biggest increase of 1.9 points to 87.20, the survey said, after the nation’s jobless rate dropped to 5.05 percent last month, down 0.12 percentage points from a month earlier.
Economics professor and center chief Hsu Chih-Chang (徐之強), said unemployment fell for two months in a row, foretelling stronger consumer spending for the rest of the year.
The sub-index on household income picked up 0.35 points to 73.90 because more respondents are upbeat about their financial standing, in line with the rallies in the NT dollar and TAIEX, the survey found.
People are also more confident about the economy and stock investments in the coming six months, while they are less optimistic about consumer prices and purchases of durable goods, the survey said.
Hsu said the ongoing rainstorm may push up food costs and interest rate hikes have prompted potential homebuyers to turn cautious about owning real estate and other durable assets.
The survey polled 2,368 people aged 20 and older by telephone between Oct. 19 and last Friday and has a margin of error of 2 percent.
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