Consumer confidence weakened this month, with all sub-indices retreating as people became uneasy due to news of mass layoffs and business closures, a survey released yesterday by National Central University showed.
The consumer confidence index dropped to 79.74, down 1.74 points from last month, according to the university’s monthly poll.
The sub-index on the job market outlook for the next six months fell the fastest at 3.6 points to 94, the lowest since January 2011, as the number of business downsizings and closures increased, university economics professor Dachrahn Wu (吳大任) said.
Taoyuan-based PCB manufacturer Dynamic Electronics Co (定穎電子) has announced a plan to lay off 420 employees, or 85 percent of its staff, to curb losses.
Last week, labor authorities confirmed that Star Travel Corp (燦星旅遊), one of the nation’s leading travel agencies, would shut five outlets in Taipei, while Tainan-based coffee chain Crown & Fancy (金?咖啡) would lay off most of its employees as it seeks to transform into a coffee bean supplier.
Fifty-year-old Hotel Kingdom (華王大飯店) in Kaohsiung said it would close in November, succumbing to rising personnel and rent costs, as well as increasing competition caused by the entry of new players.
“As a lagging economic indicator, the job market started to reflect the impact of a slowdown, although the graduation season has much to do with the grim employment outlook,” Wu said.
The US-China trade dispute is eroding exports, despite order transfers, while Beijing banning individual tourist from visiting Taiwan would deal another blow to domestic demand, he said.
The sub-index on economic prospects fell 0.65 points to 86.25, while the reading on household income weakened 0.8 points to 90.35, the survey found.
The TAIEX held resilient above 10,000 points, despite bouts of market corrections, lending support to both sub-indices, Wu said.
Although the government has introduced stimulus measures, a concrete economic recovery is unlikely against the backdrop, he said.
Stock investment confidence declined 2.2 points to 65.2, the survey showed, as the local bourse took a hit from intensified trade frictions between the US and China.
The sub-index on consumer prices fell 2.35 points to 51 as prices for oil products and raw materials remained low due to soft demand, the survey showed.
The survey polled 2,779 adults by telephone from Monday to Friday last week, and has a margin of error of 2 percentage points.
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