Consumer confidence hits six-month high

Consumers are more confident than they have been at any time over the last six months in a show of "remarkable resilience", according to a survey.

The YouGov/Cebr consumer confidence index climbed again to 108.6 in September, up from 107.8 last month.

Any score over 100 means more consumers are confident than unconfident, with this month's score the highest measured since March.

However, confidence is still below where it was before the EU referendum.

The survey, based on 6,000 interviews every month about household finances, property prices, job security and business activity, found house price confidence saw the biggest increase over the past month, although it remains below the level it was before the general election.

Household finance confidence also fell in September, with the measure looking back over the past 30 days declining for the sixth month in a row, something that has not previously happened since YouGov began collecting the data in 2009.

Job security scores also fell.

Stephen Harmston, head of YouGov Reports, said: "Since the election, consumer confidence has been relatively subdued but over the past month it has risen greatly and now stands at its highest level since March.

"But despite the notable improvement this month, consumer confidence is still below where it was ahead of the EU referendum."

Nina Skero, head of macroeconomics at the Centre for Economics and Business Research, said: "Despite various sources of uncertainty both politically and economically, consumer confidence in the UK is proving to be remarkably resilient.

"While household budgets continue to feel the squeeze from inflation, other measures have rebounded somewhat, meaning that consumers are more confident than they have been at any time in the past six months."