"Consumer confidence rose throughout 2013 in every region of the country"
- Allan Gregg, chairman of Harris Decima
Canadian consumers have become more confident than a year ago, buoyed by optimism that jobs are more secure and real estate prices will increase. The weekly sentiment gauge ticked up to 58.4 for the period ended December 27, from 57.8 the previous week and higher than 57.3, the average measure for 2013. Last year, the measure ended at 52.9. Since then the proportion of Canadians, who are pessimistic about their personal finances and the nation's economy, has declined.
After a downturn in the beginning of the year, Canada's economy is showing signs of stabilization, with consumers encouraged by stronger employment gains, stocks rally, resilient real estate market and a strengthening economy in the U.S., Canada's largest trade partner. Monthly job gains in Canada averaged 26,500 between August and November, compared to 6,000 in the first half of the year. Economists forecast the nation's economy to expand 2.3% in 2014, compared to 1.7% in 2013, with the jobless rate falling to 6.8% next year, down from 7.1% in 2013.
Consumer confidence declined to one-year low at 50.2 in March, when employment fell by the most since the recession four years earlier, and Statistics Canada indicated stagnation in the fourth quarter of 2012.
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