Consumers’ confidence in employment dropped to lowest point since 2008

The latest results of the Macau Consumer Satisfaction Index show that local consumers’ confidence in local employment has dropped to its lowest point since, according to a statement released by the Macau University of Science and Technology (MUST).
Compared with the previous quarter, four of the six sub-indices included in the survey calculation fell, while two sub-indices rose.
According to the index setting, 100 points marks a high level of confidence.
The institute interviewed 845 Macau residents who are aged 18 and above.
Among them, the “local economy” sub-index fell the most, at 60.67 points this quarter, a decrease of 19.94% from the previous quarter.
Another major decrease was recorded for the sub-index of “employment”, which was 59.93 points, a 12.14% drop compared to the previous quarter. This is a new low since the first Macao Consumer Satisfaction Index in 2008.
The sub-index of “property purchase” recorded 64.28 points, a decrease of 11.07% from the previous quarter, whereas the sub-index of “investment in stocks” was 79.47 points, a decrease of 4.59% from the previous quarter.
The only two sub-indices which showed better performance compared to the previous quarter were “price level” and “living standard”, which were up by 1.5% and 28.96% respectively.
Compared to Macau, mainland consumers’ confidence grew by 1.4% in the third quarter of this year.
In summary, the overall consumer confidence of Macau in the third quarter of 2020 continued the downward trend of the previous quarter.
The institute concluded that local consumers’ confidence in employment has hit a record low.
“After the epidemic in mainland China was brought under control, the economy is rebounding at a considerable speed. At present, the global Covid-19 vaccine research and development effort has multiple technical routes in progress, and it is likely to land within the year,” the research team concluded.
“The implementation of the vaccine will reduce global economic uncertainty, help boost physical investment and consumption in contact-type agglomeration industries, and promote the recovery of the overall economy.”
On Friday, the Macao New Chinese Youth Association also recorded similar findings.
According to a survey conducted recently by the association, 82% of university graduates who are currently looking for jobs confirmed that the pandemic has negatively affected the start to their career.
Among 754 valid responses, nearly 70% of the interviewees have found stable jobs.
Over 40% expect their monthly salary to be below 13,000 patacas.