Confidence indicators remain high. Yet the main driver of consumption is the improvement in income levels and prospects. Last year households’ disposable income increased in real terms by 1.6 per cent,  double the figure for 2015; it continued to grow, though at a slightly slower rate, in the first three months of this year too.
The consequent improvement in households’ economic conditions is partly due to net job creation. Employment has been increasing since the second half of 2014, though with some fluctuations in the monthly data. The growth is wholly attributable to payroll employment, which has now exceeded pre-crisis levels, while the number of self-employed workers has continued to fall.