Consumers'' economic concerns hit spending plans

Concerns about jobs and the general state of the economy mean that consumers are increasingly wary about getting a mortgage or a loan to buy a car, a new report has suggested.

The latest Consumer Confidence Index from Nationwide showed that 18 per cent more people in the UK are concerned about the economy now than were last month.

According to the research, worries about gloomy economic data, further falls in house prices, news of job losses and further rises in the cost of living are responsible for the drop.

"The continuing downward trend in consumer confidence is not surprising given the recent batch of poor economic data," commented Fionnuala Earley, Nationwide''s chief economist.

"Talk of the increasing chances of a recession, more weakening in the housing market and the continuing rise of food and energy costs will have further dented confidence as will reports of job losses."

This has had a knock-on effect on peoples'' purchasing plans, with 64 per cent stating they believed it was now a bad time to get a loan and buy a home or car.

However, four per cent more people thought it was sensible to look at buying white and brown goods at the moment, perhaps suggesting consumers are willing to make use of credit cards.

Ms Earley added that "falling oil prices and lower fixed mortgage rates" offered some hope for consumers.