Nick Moon, MD of GfK NOP Social Research, comments: "This month's fall in consumer confidence - which remains deep in the negative - is clearly not good news but there will be some crumbs of comfort for the government. There would need to be a further drop next month before we could definitely say things are getting worse, and that people really are concerned about the impact of the cuts in the Comprehensive Spending Review.
What is more worrying in this month's figures is that the worst-performing elements of the index are those that look to the future, with a five point fall in confidence for people's personal financial situation over the next 12 months. Consumer confidence appears to be finely balanced - we have seen the index see-saw between rises and falls every month since July. December's findings could therefore indicate what kind of 2011 the country can expect to see."
The overall index score this month decreased by two points to -21, four points lower than this time last year. Four of the five measures this month decreased, with the remaining measure staying the same. The annual moving average decreased one point to -18.
The index measuring changes in personal finances during the last 12 months has stayed the same this month, at -13; this is one point higher than this time last year.
The forecast for personal finances over the next 12 months decreased by five points to -7, this is 12 points lower than November '09.
The measure for the general economic situation of the country during the last 12 months has decreased by three points to -46; thirteen points higher than this time last year.
An expectation for the general economic situation over the next 12 months has decreased by two points to -22, 25 points lower than November '09.
The major purchases measure has decreased by two points to -17; two points higher than this time last year.
The 'now is a good time to save' Index, has increased one point to -5, which five points higher than November '09.
Research for this article was carried out by GfK NOP on behalf of the European Commission.
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