Consumer confidence slides again

Consumer confidence has continued to slide, with a weekly index giving back almost half of the record bounce made after the change in prime minister.

A pedestrian walks past retail signage

Consumer confidence has retraced almost half of the bounce made after the change in prime minister. (AAP)

Consumer confidence has slipped further, retracing almost half of the record bounce it enjoyed when Malcolm Turnbull became prime minister.

The ANZ/Roy Morgan weekly consumer confidence index slumped a further 0.5 per cent last week, after falling 3.4 per cent the previous week.

After taking the nation's top job, Mr Turnbull now faces an uphill battle to resurrect confidence in the economy amid global financial market volatility, ANZ's co-head of Australian economics Felicity Emmett said.

He's taken charge as early signs of a softening housing market compounds the household sector's existing woes, including weak income growth and high household debt, she said.

"As such, it will be difficult for the new government to engineer a sustained cyclical uplift in confidence," Ms Emmett said.

The survey found that people were increasingly worried about the economic outlook, as well as household finances, with the survey's reading dipping to its lowest level since mid-June.

The reading on whether consumers felt now was a good time to buy a major household item partially offset these losses, with it rising sharply by 6.5 per cent.

However, this bounce comes after the sub-index reached its lowest level since May 2009 in the previous week.

ANZ tipped confidence to remain under pressure during the coming months as the cooling property market dominates headlines and impacts sentiment.


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Source: AAP


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