Consumer sentiment hits seven-year low

CONSUMER sentiment dipped to its lowest level in more than seven years in July amid concerns about the economy and its implications for the labour market, a survey said yesterday.

A monthly index compiled by Dublin-based IIB Bank and the Economic and Social Research Institute dropped to 60.9 in July from 65.8 the previous month. It was the largest monthly fall since August 2002 and the lowest figure in the seven-and-a-half-year history of the index.

The sentiment figure has been edging down from a peak of 68.4 in April, when confidence was boosted by a European Central Bank interest rate cut and the fall of Baghdad to US-led forces.