British Consumers Are Worried About a Coronavirus-Driven Slowdown
31 March 2020 - 4:29PM
Dow Jones News
By Will Horner
A trend of improving consumer sentiment in the U.K. faltered in
March as Britons worried that the spread of the coronavirus
pandemic would harm the nation's economy.
An index of consumer sentiment gathered by market-research firm
GfK fell two points to minus nine. The drop interrupted three
consecutive months of improving consumer confidence in the U.K.
that had come as Brexit faded from headlines.
Dragging the index down was a large drop in perceptions of the
country's economic strength in the year ahead. A subindex gauging
views on the state of the economy over the next 12 months dropped
six points to minus 27. Another subindex measuring Britons
likelihood to make large purchases dropped eight points, which GfK
noted was "worrying news for retailers."
The decline in consumer confidence came amid "the threat of a
dramatic slowdown in the U.K. economy due to the spread of
Covid-19," said Joe Staton, client strategy director at GfK.
Nonetheless, the anticipated fall in consumer sentiment was
significantly better than previously forecast by economists who had
been expecting the index to drop 11 points to minus 18.
GfK's survey of British consumers took place in early March,
before the U.K. imposed a national lockdown in an effort to
restrict the virus's spread and before high-profile individuals,
including Prime Minister Boris Johnson, tested positive for the
virus.
"Importantly, this research was carried out during the first two
weeks of March, when...coronavirus was headline news but not
impacting day-to-day lives," Mr. Staton said.
GfK surveyed 2,000 adults between March 2 and March 13 and
produced the index on behalf of the European Commission.
Write to Will Horner at william.horner@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
March 31, 2020 01:14 ET (05:14 GMT)
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