As the end of 2011 draws near, Canadians are doubtful about job prospects, their personal finances and whether it’s wise to spend money right now, according to a new Nielsen survey.

“Third quarter was volatile and challenging for global economies and financial markets amid stagnant U.S. unemployment figures and a worsening euro zone debt crisis,” said Dr. Venkatesh Bala, Chief Economist at The Cambridge Group, a part of Nielsen. “A recessionary mindset is growing among consumers.”

Global consumer confidence rose two points in the first quarter of this year to an index of 92 driven by record confidence gains in the Middle East/Africa following social and political unrest in the region and strong-performing Asia Pacific economies.

As with other developing countries, Indonesia’s economy is strong, and that development has propelled a growing middle class eager to spend.

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).

Amid seemingly contradictory economic datapoints, manufacturers and retailers will need to focus on the habits of the consumer for clarity and insights into the pace of recovery.

The fall of the Berlin Wall 20 years ago helped propel the growth of the European Union. Today, the EU economy is bigger than the United States and is still growing. Will the EU challenge U.S. historical economic dominance on a global scale?

When U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner met last week with their Chinese counterparts in Washington, D.C., they pledged closer cooperation in dealing with a host of pressing economic issues, not the least of which are protectionist barriers to global trade. Yet, while policy makers in both countries – and other global leaders – champion principles of free and balanced trade, their respective populations seem to have mixed views on the topic.
Responding to a 52 nation survey by the Nielsen Company, close to half (45%) …

According to the latest Nielsen Global Confidence Survey conducted in the second half of June, Australians are seeing encouraging signs of economic recovery with strong consumer confidence levels and optimism about the state of their finances and willingness to spend over the next 12 months.
Australia ranked fifth of the 28 markets Nielsen measures, just behind fast-growing developing countries Indonesia, India, the Philippines and Brazil, and well ahead of other developed nations.
Forty-four percent of Aussies believe “now is a good/excellent time to buy the things they want,” second highest of all …

Consumer confidence around the world has been falling as the ongoing recession is causing more people to worry about their jobs and cut household spending.  And although residents of the United Arab Emirates share those concerns, they rank in the top ten of the most optimistic countries of the 52 studied by Nielsen.  The UAE scored a confidence level of 89, compared with other regional neighbors such as Saudi Arabia (79) and Egypt (74).  Globally, Indonesian consumers were the most confident, with a score of 104, followed by the Danes …