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LONDON, Dec 31 (Reuters) - British consumer confidence rose
to its highest since February in the first half of December,
before a new variant of COVID-19 prompted the government to
tighten lockdown restrictions across England, a survey showed on
Thursday.
The YouGov/CEBR consumer confidence indicator rose to 102.9
in December from 102.2 the month before, bolstered by a stronger
outlook for household finances and broader economic activity as
a vaccine against COVID-19 began to be rolled out.
The survey took place between Dec. 1 and Dec. 18, and
YouGov's director of reputation research, Darren Yaxley, said he
expected sentiment to decline following the subsequent sharp
rise in COVID-19 cases and renewed lockdown across most of
England.
"While these metrics and the overall index indicate hope
towards the end of 2020 ... job security indicators declined,
something that is likely to fall further after the announcement
of the new strain of coronavirus and subsequent restrictions
before Christmas," he said.
A similar survey from market research company GfK, conducted
from Dec. 1-11, showed its sharpest rise in eight years on the
back of positive vaccine developments, though in outright terms
it only returned to its September level.
(Reporting by David Milliken. Editing by Andrew MacAskill)
