Consumer Research Africa

SA Consumer Watch – May 2016

In our Consumer Watch for May, negative news flows matched the positives. Notable positive data came from the Barclays PMI, which rose to 54.9 in April and reached its highest level since June 2011. On the negative side, The Quarterly Labour Force Survey (QLFS) showed an increase in the rate of unemployment to 26.7% for Q1 2016. Other news flows include weaker retail and vehicle sales numbers, slower inflation growth and improving house prices.