JUST when consumers didn't need any more bad news, the jobless rate looks set to finish the year on a 12-year high.
Economists expect the unemployment rate will tick up to 6.3 per cent, from 6.2 per cent, when labour force figures are released on Thursday.
The news will do little to lift the mood of consumers, with new figures showing confidence slumping to its lowest level since August 2011.
The Westpac-Melbourne Institute consumer sentiment index tumbled 5.7 per cent in December.
"Respondents are clearly concerned about the outlook for the economy and job security," the bank's chief economist Bill Evans said.
There was also "disillusionment" about the May budget. Despite this gloom, retailers look set to have enjoyed their best year since the global financial crisis six years ago, according to an analysis by Deloitte Access Economics.
Australian National Retailers Association chief executive Anna McPhee put that down to record-low interest rates, cheaper petrol and lower energy bills following the removal of the carbon tax.
"So there is more money in people's wallets," she said.
Even so, Australians are likely to be wary before the mid-year budget review, handed down by Treasurer Joe Hockey.. In the past couple of weeks, the government made changes to several controversial budget measures in an attempt to make them more palatable.
Have you spent less on Christmas this year?
