German consumer confidence slips again

There were some disappointing consumer confidence figures from Germany.

Rising inflation and the likely effect of continuing trade tensions between the US and EU contributed to a dip in the GfK consumer sentiment index to 10.5 going into September from 10.6 the previous month.

Analysts had expected an unchanged figure. This was the second month in a row that sentiment deteriorated. GfK said:

“Despite the second decline in a row, consumers continue to assume that the good consumer economy will continue even if the dynamic could possibly drop off somewhat. Therefore, GfK expects that private consumption for this year will increase by 1.5 percent in real terms and meet the GfK forecast made at the beginning of the year.

“The positive outlook for the consumer economy will only continue as is if the job market remains stable, which is the current assumption, and there are no additional risks threatening from the price front. A further increase in inflation would certainly dampen the consumer climate.”