Canadians appear to be growing more confident in the economy, though they have concerns about their personal financial obligations, according to the results of a new study of national consumer confidence.
The Royal Bank of Canada released the results of its Canadian Consumer Outlook Index on Monday, which was up eight percentage points in December from the previous month.
The bank used an online survey of 1,018 adult Canadians to gauge the financial confidence of Canadians. RBC concluded that the public is cautiously optimistic about the coming year, though many are still struggling in the aftermath of months of recession.
"Canadians are becoming more optimistic but as this index shows, their focus remains on managing day-to-day expenses with many finding it hard to save for their retirement or their children's education," said David McKay, group head, Canadian Banking, at RBC.
Three in five respondents told RBC that they believed the economy would improve over the next year, compared to only 17 per cent who expected it to worsen.
Less than half of the Canadians surveyed -- 47 per cent -- said they plan to delay major purchases such as cars, vacations and appliances due to the state of the economy. That was down from 63 per cent of respondents surveyed in November.
But the report also says most Canadians are exercising financial prudence, with three-quarters of respondents paying for their holiday spending with cash rather than credit.
While 21 per cent of respondents were worried about a member of their household losing a job in December, that represented an improvement of six per cent over the previous month. Similarly, 38 per cent believed their personal financial situation had worsened, down one per cent from November.
RBC Chief Economist Craig Wright said the numbers measuring job anxiety in the population are "moving in the right direction."
"It's still relatively elevated, but we think as we get through this year, we're going to continue to see an improvement in the outlook for the economy, and with that jobs and consumer spending overall," he told Â鶹´«Ã½ Channel during an interview from Toronto.
Respondents were split on the overall state of the economy, with 51 per cent viewing it as good and the remainder viewing it as bad.
With files from The Canadian Press
