Good news - Consumer confidence growing

Consumer confidence is growing, according to two recent reports.

The Westpac Melbourne Institute Index of Consumer Sentiment increased by 1.9% in November. The Index increased from 108.3 in October to 110.3 in November. These are the highest levels since the July-December period in 2010 when the Index averaged 114.

Another measure of consumer spirits lifting is the latest Commonwealth Bank Business Sales Indicator. For the 14th consecutive month economy-wide spending rose 0.4% in October, following an identical rise in the previous month. The October results show that the pace of spending growth has stablised over the last few months, after slowing between March and August.

Practices concerned about whether they can afford to employ new graduates can take these more optimistic analyses into account when planning workforce changes over the coming weeks.