Confidence plummets

Press, 28 May 1979, Page 10

Confidence plummets

Tn the biggest bi-monthly drop recorded, economic confidence plummeted nine points between January and March, says the National Research Bureau in its latest confidence index. Ft also reports that during February and March social confidence dropped four points. The N.R.B. comments: “The Government-inspired pre-election economic euphoria has now dissipated.”

The confidence index is compiled from measurements taken by the bureau of public feeling about the present and future personal economic situation and about future social and environmental conditions. It is compiled from bimonthly surveys of 2200 randomly-selected New Zealanders aged 15 and over. Index values of 0-49 reflect public pessimism and values of 51-100 reflect optimism. The bureau says econ-

omic confidence is at present relatively highest among men aged from 15 to 24, and in Wellington provincial areas, and relatively lowest among women aged 45 to 54 and in Christchurch city. Social confidence is relatively highest among men aged 15 to 24 and in Wellington city, and relatively lowest among women aged 45 to 54 and in Christchurch provincial areas. Copyright — The “New Zealand Herald.”