Global| May 27 2009French Consumer Begins To Feel Less Stressed
Summary
The French consumer is gradually beginning to feel better. At a value of -40, confidence is up by a tick in May following a one point rising trends that is in place for several months. The index is still low in the bottom 13 [...]
The French consumer is gradually beginning to feel better. At
a value of -40, confidence is up by a tick in May following a one point
rising trends that is in place for several months.
The index is still low in the bottom 13 percentile of its
range since 1990. Consumers are will as worried as they ever have been
abut unemployment.. Inflation is not a concern. The current financial
situation is in the lower 38Th percentile of its range an improvement
over the bottom 25th percentile for the previous 12-months.
This is yet another reading on the consumer making progress in
the right direction but at a slow pace.
| INSEE Household Monthly Survey | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Since Jan 1990 | Since Jan 1990 | |||||||||
| May 09 |
Apr 09 |
Mar 09 |
Feb-09 | Percentile | Rank | Max | Min | Range | Mean | |
| Household Confidence | -40 | -41 | -42 | -43 | 13.8 | 214 | 10 | -48 | 58 | -19 |
| Living Standards | ||||||||||
| Past 12 Mos | -76 | -76 | -76 | -76 | 6.0 | 216 | 18 | -82 | 100 | -40 |
| Next 12-Mos | -51 | -54 | -59 | -58 | 10.7 | 215 | 16 | -59 | 75 | -21 |
| Unemployment: Next 12 | 88 | 83 | 79 | 81 | 100.0 | 1 | 88 | -37 | 125 | 32 |
| Price Developments | ||||||||||
| Past 12Mo | -17 | -12 | -7 | -2 | 33.1 | 101 | 64 | -57 | 121 | -16 |
| Next 12-Mos | -55 | -53 | -51 | -46 | 5.4 | 224 | 33 | -60 | 93 | -35 |
| Savings | ||||||||||
| Favorable to save | 7 | 9 | 14 | 13 | 28.9 | 220 | 39 | -6 | 45 | 22 |
| Ability to save Next 12 | -20 | -15 | -12 | -18 | 10.3 | 221 | 6 | -23 | 29 | -9 |
| Spending | ||||||||||
| Favorable for major purchase | -28 | -30 | -29 | -33 | 24.1 | 194 | 16 | -42 | 58 | -14 |
| Financial Situation | ||||||||||
| Current | 11 | 12 | 12 | 11 | 38.1 | 116 | 24 | 3 | 21 | 12 |
| Past 12 MOs | -28 | -27 | -28 | -29 | 25.8 | 214 | -5 | -36 | 31 | -17 |
| Next 12-Mos | -17 | -18 | -20 | -20 | 20.0 | 213 | 11 | -24 | 35 | -2 |
| Number of observations in the period : 226 | ||||||||||
Robert Brusca
AuthorMore in Author Profile »Robert A. Brusca is Chief Economist of Fact and Opinion Economics, a consulting firm he founded in Manhattan. He has been an economist on Wall Street for over 25 years. He has visited central banking and large institutional clients in over 30 countries in his career as an economist. Mr. Brusca was a Divisional Research Chief at the Federal Reserve Bank of NY (Chief of the International Financial markets Division), a Fed Watcher at Irving Trust and Chief Economist at Nikko Securities International. He is widely quoted and appears in various media. Mr. Brusca holds an MA and Ph.D. in economics from Michigan State University and a BA in Economics from the University of Michigan. His research pursues his strong interests in non aligned policy economics as well as international economics. FAO Economics’ research targets investors to assist them in making better investment decisions in stocks, bonds and in a variety of international assets. The company does not manage money and has no conflicts in giving economic advice.
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