Consumer Pulse

At 78.5 in March 2020, the Consumer Pulse was down 5.4 on last month and 4.0 lower than a year ago. Having abated in February, worries about the economic outlook re-surfaced this month as the new government formation talks made little progress and the coronavirus arrived on Irish shores. Households markedly downgraded their assessment of the economy’s prospects for the coming year and were also more circumspect about their personal finances going forward. Buying sentiment dipped this month too, with just over three in ten considering it a good time to purchase big ticket items compared with 35% in February.