Job optimism leads Q4 growth in Nielsen consumer index

The China Consumer Trend Index released by Nielsen, the global measurement and data analytic company, saw steady growth in the fourth quarter last year, led by optimistic job prospects.

The index figure reached 113 points, up one point from the previous quarter, the company said in a report on Wednesday. Nielsen's Consumer Trend Index measures perceptions of local job prospects, personal finance and willingness to spend. Consumer trend levels above and below a baseline of 100 indicate degrees of optimism and pessimism, respectively.

The Nielsen data showed job prospects led the growth of the overall index -- the component increased to 74 points in the last quarter, compared with 73 in the previous quarter. Both personal finance (67) and willingness to spend (58) maintained stable.

"China has been making concerted efforts to adopt employment policies, encourage entrepreneurship, stabilize economic prospects, enhance companies' confidence and competitiveness, and create favorable conditions for the job market. All these factors helped underpin consumers' job prospects," said Andy Zhao, president of Nielsen China.

According to the National Bureau of Statistics, China's year-on-year GDP growth reached 6.4 percent in the fourth quarter of 2018, and growth for the whole year was 6.6 percent – meeting the target of 6.5 percent. Expansion of the national economy remained within a reasonable range last year, continuing the stable trend. It laid a solid foundation for the enhancement of the China Consumer Trend Index.

"As the country's favorable policies on trade, private companies, micro and small enterprises gradually take effect, the Chinese economy has shifted away from high-speed growth to high-quality growth in 2018," said Zhao.

For the past year, the China Consumer Trend Index fared well – the figure reached 113 points in 2018, compared with 112 points in the previous year. The Nielsen report showed that all three components of the Consumer Trend Index witnessed steady growth. Job prospects jumped to 75 points from the previous year's 70; the willingness to spend surged 3 points to 60; and personal finance stood at 69, the same as the previous year.

Li Yajing and Zhang Hanzhi contributed to this story.