Consumer sentiment improved in September, with the IIB/ESRI consumer sentiment index rising to 95.5 last month from 93.6 in August.
As the index recovered the bulk of the three point drop seen between July and August, IIB said it would interpret these results as signaling the persistence of the solidly improving trend in consumer sentiment that has been in place since the middle of last year.
The forward-looking sub-index, the expectations index, improved to 91.7 in September from 87 in August. The index of current economic conditions declined to 101 in September from 103.5 in August.
'The results indicate that consumer sentiment improved in September. The increase in sentiment reflects consumers' expectations for the general economic outlook and the labour market becoming more positive,' commented the ESRI's David Duffy.
'Consumer remain cautious about current conditions,' he said. 'The decline in the current index is due to consumers becoming less positive about the current buying climate and their current financial situation,' he added.
'The rise in the index in September suggests the trend in consumer sentiment is still upwards, but the pace of improvement is not spectacular,' commented IIB Bank's Austin Hughes. 'We think this is consistent with an economy that is healthy but not hot'.
'Irish consumers are not seeing the sort of income gains that would spark a 'feel-good factor'. The September reading still remains some way short of the levels seen during the boom period,' he said.
'We don't expect to see the sort of employment or income gains that would cause a dramatic rise in consumer sentiment in the months ahead,' he added.
