Our IC/Confidence Index couldn't even fall back on the sunshine anomaly to enhance its overall rating because that particular factor slumped during July, recording a -5 score. Half of the constituent factors of our index registered the lowest scores possible and all, bar one, posted negative values.
| Month | July | June | May |
| Index value | -31 | -33 | -28 |
The two-point improvement made in July was all down to the factor for the retail prices index (RPI) factor. Annual inflation as measured by RPI fell yet again in June and, at 2.8 per cent, it is now at its lowest rate since December 2009 and the consumer prices index is edging closer to the government's target rate of 2 per cent. The score for this factor was +2, but other economic factors need to improve if the Confidence Index is to progress.
The last time the index produced a positive result was back in April 2007 and even then it was only +1. There was a slight improvement in the FTSE 100 index in July, but the four-month moving average for the Confidence Index is still falling and doesn't look good in the short term.
