The consumer confidence index (CCI) dropped 1.54 points from a month earlier to 84.04 this month, with the economic outlook sub-index falling the most because of global economic uncertainty, a National Central University survey showed yesterday.
It was the second straight monthly fall on the CCI. Last month, the index slid 1.31 points from 86.89 in August.
The CCI benchmark gauges public expectation regarding the performance of the stock market, on household finances, durable goods, job opportunities, consumer prices and the economic outlook for the next six months.
This month’s survey — which polled 2,410 people over the age of 20 between Wednesday and Saturday last week — showed improving sentiment on job opportunities, while uncertainty regarding the other five sectors increased, the university’s Research Center for Taiwan Economic Development said in a report.
“Consumers’ rising uncertainty on the global economy was reflected in the falls on the sub-indices, especially the sub-indices for economic outlook and performance of the stock market,” center director Dachrahn Wu (吳大任) said.
The economic outlook sub-index fell 4.45 points to 88.35, while the sub-index on the performance of the stock market dipped 2.2 points to 67, its lowest level since June 2009, amid major technology firms issuing conservative outlooks, the report showed.
The sub-index for durable goods declined 2.1 points to 100.95, with the sub-indices for consumer prices and household finances sliding 1 point and 0.85 points respectively to 51.55 and 84.45, the survey showed.
However, the sub-index for job opportunities outperformed the other sectors, showing an increase of 1.75 points to 110.55 this month, the seventh straight month it has hit a record high, indicating that concerns over unpaid leave have not yest been factored in by the public.
Council for Economic Planning and Development Deputy Minister Hu Chung-ying (胡仲英), who also attended the press conference, said the results of the survey reflected consumers’ worries about the global economy and that the world’s four leading economies — the eurozone, the US, China and Japan — undoubtedly have problems that need to be solved, which may exert further downward pressure on Taiwan’s exports.
However, Hu said there would not be another global recession and that he expects domestic demand to play an important role in the nation’s economy, which he described as “cold externally, but warm internally.”
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