Taiwan’s consumer confidence improved slightly this month from last month with across-the-board gains in all six gauges after the nation posted a stronger-thanexpected economic showing in the second quarter, a survey by National Central University showed yesterday.
The consumer confidence index rose to 79.69 points this month, up 1.05 points from last month’s level, driven chiefly by recovering confidence about the outlook of the job market, the survey said.
The sub-index on expectation of work opportunities over the coming six months posted the biggest increase of all measures, rising 2.15 points to 83.65 this month, according to the survey conducted by the university’s Research Center for Taiwan Economic Development.
The improving sentiment came one week after the nation reported a gain of 55,000 jobs last month, exceeding the addition of 8,000 people to the jobless population.
Also earlier this month, the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics said GDP expanded 12.53 percent year-on-year in the second quarter, beating the market expectation of 10 percent.
The sub-index on expectation of household income over the next six months posted the second-largest increase, up 1.9 points to 73.45, the survey said.
The sub-index on consumer prices stood at 55 points this month, compared with 53.25 last month, meaning concern over inflation remains moderate.
Still, economists expect the central bank to raise interest rates by 12.5 basis points in its quarterly board meeting next month to help rein in soaring real estate prices.
The sub-index on purchase of durable goods registered the smallest increase, up a negligible 0.1 point from last month to 90.6 this month, the survey said.
Meanwhile, more people consider it prudent to make stock investments over the coming six months as the sub-index gained 0.2 point to 93.1 this month, the survey said.
The sub-index on the economic outlook also edged up 0.2 point to 82.35 this month, the survey said.
The survey polled 2,780 people aged 20 and older by telephone between Aug. 19 and last Sunday and has a margin of error of 2 percent. The consumer confidence measure has a perfect score of 200, with a reading over 100 points indicating optimism and a score below this suggesting pessimism.
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