Sentiment among British households regarding their personal finances turned the least downbeat in more than three years in June, indicating that the squeeze on household budgets eased notably, data from a survey by Markit Economics showed Monday.
The seasonally adjusted household finance index increased to 40.8 in June from 40.4 in May, hitting the highest level since February 2010. The index, however, remained below the no-change 50 mark that separates improvement from deterioration. The index recorded growth in three of the past four months.
The June survey indicated that both private sector and public sector employees turned less downbeat than in in the previous month. Finance/business services employees were the most confident, followed by IT/telecoms, while construction workers were the most pessimistic.
The measure of employees' perception of workplace activity, job security and income showed improvement for the fifth successive month, but to a lesser extent than in May.
The forward-looking component of the survey revealed a further improvement in British households' financial outlook for the next twelve months. The corresponding index rose for the fourth straight month and hit the highest level since March 2010.
"Better labour market conditions helped reinforce the upturn in households' financial expectations during June, as rising levels of workplace activity translated into diminishing job insecurities," Markit Senior Economist Tim Moore said.
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