UPDATE - Turkey: Consumer confidence betters in August

UPDATE WITH MORE DETAILS

By Tuba Sahin

ANKARA (AA) - Consumer confidence in Turkey's economy improved on a monthly basis in August, according to the country's statistical institute on Thursday.

The consumer confidence index reached 58.3 in August, up 3.1% from last month, TurkStat said in a statement.

The index value is jointly calculated by TurkStat and the Central Bank of Turkey through measurement of consumer tendencies.

TurkStat data showed that all sub-indices improved on a monthly basis in August.

The probability-of-saving index posted the highest rise, suggesting more people expected to save money. The sub-index jumped 13.1% to 22.7 this month.

The number of people unemployed expectation index, a gauge of sentiment about the health of the labor market, saw an improvement of 4.8% from last month to 58.3.

Attitudes over the general economic outlook rose 1.2% as it increased from 73.4 points to 74.3 points for August.

The financial expectations of household index showed the softest rise with 1.1% to 77.8 during the same period.

The consumer confidence index is seen as a vital gauge of the overall health of the economy, indicating people's sentiments about spending their money, which in turn gives clues about economic vitality in the days to come.

Last year, the consumer confidence index hovered between 72.7 and 57.6 -- the highest value in July and the lowest in October.