Indians are less optimistic about their
job prospects in the coming 12 months, although they are still among the
most confident compared to global peers, according to a Nielsen report.
The latest global consumer confidence findings for the fourth quarter in 2011 that polled more than 28,000 online consumers in 56 countries, pointed out that Indians' optimism over their job prospects dipped to 78 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2011 from 81 per cent in the previous quarter.
Notwithstanding the decline,
Indians still topped the most-confident chart on job prospects, followed by Indonesia (72 per cent), the Philippines (72 per cent), Brazil (71 per cent) and China (68 per cent).
"Though Indians remain optimistic about their jobs, levels of optimism have dropped, not surprisingly since macro-economic indicators point towards an overall slowdown of the economy," Nielsen India Managing Director Justin Sargent said in a statement.
The equity markets have been weak and the currency has been devalued considerably, adding to the worries of the Indian consumer, he added.
The report further said 76 per cent of Indian respondents are confident about the state of their personal finances compared to 77 per cent in the previous quarter.
Indonesia continues to lead this scale with 83 per cent, followed by the Philippines at 82 per cent and Brazil with 80 per cent. Indian optimism over their personal finances was at 80 per cent in Q2 2011, it added.
Yet, when it comes to overall consumer confidence levels, Indians continue to be the most confident, for the eight consecutive quarter across the globe, rising one index point in the fourth quarter over the previous year.
"The stabilisation of India's consumer confidence metric is encouraging and the retention of the top spot globally reminds us of the inherent strength of the Indian economy, the savings mindset of the Indian consumer..." Sargent said.
The positivity of consumer sentiment has likely been helped by the recent cooling of inflationary pressure, he added.
The report also pointed out that though not ranked in the top countries surveyed, Indians too are also worried about job security (19 per cent) and the economy (16 per cent) over a horizon of the next six months keeping in line with global sentiments.
"The Indian consumer is worried about the state of the overall economy going forward, with macro economic indicators showing clear signs of cooling down," Sargent said.
What is seemingly weighing on them is the subsequent possible impact of the economy on their jobs and hence their obvious fiscal prudence shown in their discretionary spends, he added.
According to the report, the latest round of the survey, conducted between November 23 and December 9, 2011, global consumer confidence increased one index point over the previous quarter to 89.
The overall confidence levels, however, fell in 60 per cent of global markets measured with confidence declines in 35 out of 56 markets. Confidence rose in 12 markets and remained flat in nine, it said.
After India, the other countries in the top five remain the same from the previous quarter, though their order of ranking did change.
Indonesia and the Philippines jointly ranked second with 117 index points, while Saudi Arabia drops a notch to the third place with 113 index points and Brazil is in fourth position with 112 index points. Romania, the United States and Australia are the biggest gainers over the previous quarter.
With PTI inputs
Special 
