A new report by the Conference Board of Canada has revealed that consumer confidence in Canada has reached its lowest level in over a year due to fears of a trade dispute with the US.
The Index of Consumer Confidence, a measure of how Canadians feel about the economy, fell over 12 points to 52.6 in February, the largest one-month drop in over a year and a half. This is the lowest point in the Conference Board’s consumer barometer since hitting 51.5 in November 2023 and 47.6 in April 2020.
The confidence index has fluctuated since the first decade of the 2000s, taking hits during the global financial crisis and COVID-19 pandemic. Just over a third of Canadians (33.9%) said their personal finances were worsening, up 2.7 percentage points from last month. Canadians, particularly those working in manufacturing positions, are concerned about the prospect of their jobs being the casualties of a trade war.
Source: Financial Post
Source: The Star
