Canadian consumer confidence has dropped to its lowest point since September 2001, a new poll suggests.
The survey by Harris-Decima for Investors Group released yesterday indicates the number of people who say now is a bad time to make a major purchase has almost doubled since the fall.
The deepest pessimism was in the one-year economic outlook, along with consumers’ inclination to make a major purchase.
Harris Decima president Bruce Anderson said the shifts are the most sizable seen in recent years.
“What remains notable, despite this anxiety, is the fact that there remains a tendency to anticipate that this will be more of a shorter-term than longer-term problem, and more a challenge for other people than for the individual respondent,” Anderson said.
The gloomy consumer outlook comes as federal Finance Minister Jim Flaherty meets with his provincial counterparts in Montreal to discuss the economy.
