UK’s consumer confidence faces referendum blues

Consumer confidence in the United Kingdom dropped this week, following the country’s vote to leave the European Union in a referendum held last week, according to a private survey published Thursday that gave a first glimpse of the country’s reaction to the recent surprise that shook markets.

The YouGov/CEBR Consumer Confidence Index, which measures people's economic sentiment on a daily basis, slumped to its lowest level since May 2013, when Britain's economy was just starting to emerge from its post-financial crisis sluggishness. From a level of 111.9 earlier in the month, it has since slumped to 104.3. The YouGov survey was based on 7,000 online interviews per month.

According to a separate report from GfK released Thursday, households’ faith in the economic outlook was shaky even before the referendum on June 23. The headline consumer index remained at -1 this month, but the measure of how consumers view the 12-month economic outlook slipped to -14 from minus 13, down 18 points from a year earlier. The survey is based on a sample of 2,000 people.

Britain’s exit from the European Union is likely to spur a recession in the near term, Prime Minister David Cameron said in his speech before the June 23 UK referendum. Meanwhile, PM Cameron is scheduled to deliver a speech at 15:00 GMT (11:00 a.m. EDT) on Thursday.