The first quarter of 2011 started off slowly, with nominal value rising 2.3 percent across Europe, a slight decrease from the fourth quarter of 2010.

Canadians are much more confident about their finances and the economy than Americans, but that doesn’t mean they are spending with abandon. More than half of Canadians believe that the country is still in a recession and they continue to carefully watch how they spend. Retailers and consumer-packaged goods manufacturers who know how to connect with consumers will emerge ahead of the rest.

Latin America was the most confident region according to Nielsen’s latest Consumer Confidence index. Take a closer look at additional regional insights from more than a dozen countries.

Consumer confidence fell in 25 out of 52 countries in Q4 2010 as hope for a global economic recovery evaporated at the end of last year, according to the latest edition of the Nielsen Global Consumer Confidence Index.

By the close of the third quarter of 2010, Nielsen reports that all 12 markets across Asia Pacific maintained earlier quarters’ growth momentum in ad spending.

Third quarter 2010 data shows a divided Europe. Turkey and Slovakia continue to demonstrate a strong recovery, followed by the UK, though growths here are predominantly driven by inflation.

The fragile worldwide economic recovery is evident by the drop of three Consumer Confidence Index points in quarter three to 90. Canada is fairing better with a level of 101, which held fairly steady from Q2.

Consumers’ desire for a fast, easy way to control their finances is driving the adoption of mobile banking. Banks are seeing positive effects to their bottom line as it creates cost savings and improved customer loyalty.

A steep increase in the number of people fearing for their jobs is driving consumer confidence downward in Great Britain according to the latest Consumer Confidence Survey, released by Nielsen and the British Retail Consortium (BRC).

Key findings from the third quarter Nielsen Global Consumer Confidence Index report that consumers find a full economic recovery in 2010 to be highly unlikely.