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Consumer confidence has dipped slightly, according to the Westpac McDermott Miller Consumer Confidence Index.
The index fell from 114.7 to 116.9 for the March 2010 quarter.
Consumer confidence peaked at a four-year high of 120.3 in September 2009, but has slipped back over the past six months.
"Not much has gone the consumer's way in recent months. Interest rates and petrol prices are up, unemployment has worsened, and house prices are falling again," says Brendan O'Donovan, Chief Economist at Westpac.
"People are still optimistic about the recovery, but less so than last quarter."
Most of the decline in the quarter came from an adjustment to the Future Conditions Index, which dropped to 124.7 from 128.8 in December 2009.
Consumers remained deeply pessimistic about their own financial situation - 22% of respondents said they were worse off than a year ago, compared to 21% last quarter.
The only part of the survey to show improvement was consumers' assessment of whether now was a good time to buy a major household item, with 21% saying yes.
"The high exchange rate is about the only thing that worked in consumers' favour recently, by driving down prices of many goods, including consumer durables like cars and appliances," O'Donovan says.
Consumer confidence at its current level is consistent with a steady, but unspectacular, recovery in consumer spending.
An additional question was included in the Consumer Confidence survey: "If there are changes to the tax and benefit system over the next 12 months, do you expect it will have a positive or negative effect on your overall financial situation?"
The results were evenly split, with 33% expecting a positive effect, 34% expecting a negative effect and 22% saying they expected no effect.
Consumers in Waikato and Canterbury have become more optimistic over the March quarter, according to the survey.
Waikato consumers may be feeling better off as historically high dairy payouts work their way through the regional economy," says Richard Miller, Managing Director of McDermott Miller.
"Canterbury consumers seem to be benefiting from their region's buoyant tourism industry."
