Household finances "deteriorated" during Q1
By myfinances.co.uk staff
Consumers' financial wellbeing "deteriorated" during the first quarter of the year, new figures have shown.
Alliance Trust's UK Financial Reality Index fell from 90.5 points to 77.3 between January and March, as levels of economic activity declines and earnings growth remained subdued.
This takes the index further from the "critical" score of 100, which indicates that households' financial positions remain "generally weak", the company said.
Shona Dobbie, head of the Alliance Trust Research Centre, noted that consumers were also hit by higher levels of inflation hitting their disposable income during the first quarter.
"Unfortunately, the prospects of cuts in public spending and increases in taxation . are expected to add further to the pressures facing households," she added.
According to the most recent figures from the Office for National Statistics, the annual rate of consumer prices index inflation rose from three per cent to 3.4 per cent in March.
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