Read the following article from the Irish Examiner about growing consumer confidence in Ireland. Answer the accompanying questions.
CONSUMER CONFIDENCE SEES FOOD
AND DRINK SPEND RISE By Conall Ó Fátharta
Spending at retailers continues to rise, with [credit card company] Visa’s data for May 2015 showing the spend on food and drink (which includes supermarkets) rose sharply by 9.7% compared to 9.1% in April 2015.
i Retailers are businesses that sell goods directly to consumers. 1. What do you think the term ’consumer confidence’ means?
Another notable performer was household goods (8.4%), with consumers increasing their expenditure on a range of items such as furniture and electrical goods. The clothing and footwear sector was up from 6.5% in the previous month and the best recorded since February.
Hotels, restaurants and bars recorded a record growth of 8.6%, while there was a 4.3% increase in spending in the recreation and culture category.
2. Hotels, restaurants and bars have recorded an increase in spending. What category of expenditure does this fall under?
