CCIWA says confidence down

Seventy-five per cent of local businesses and 56 per cent of consumers believe the economy will deteriorate over the course of the new financial year.

On a more positive note, 58 per cent of businesses expect their costs will decline over coming months, and only 11 per cent of businesses reported labour scarcity.

Those are the findings of the June quarter business and consumer confidence surveys, announced by the Chamber of Commerce and Industry WA today.

The Westpac-CCI survey of business expectations found business confidence was slightly lower for the June quarter than in March.

In the March quarter, 71 per cent of businesses surveyed said they believed the economy would deteriorate in the coming 12 months, and that number rose to 75 per cent in June.

It is an even sharper drop in expectations when compared with the 55 per cent figure of the December quarter.

The CCI’s survey of consumer confidence found 56 per cent of respondents believed that economic conditions would deteriorate over the year.

This is a huge increase on the March quarter result, in which only 39 per cent had given that response.