With respect to the data picture, it is somewhat mixed. As Mr. Morantz highlighted, consumption per capita has been very weak. Households have felt the impact of higher interest rates. They've cut back on their spending. They've increased their savings. You can see that the savings rate has gone up quite a bit. It's at 8%.
In terms of consumer confidence, it was very low. It has come up, but it's moved up pretty modestly. I think the good news is that it's not going down. It's moving in the right direction, but it's not high. When we do our own surveys of consumers, you can see the combined impact of high inflation and high interest rates on their mood and on their spending plans. Looking forward, we have lowered interest rates now—four times since June—and you are starting to see some impact of that. Some of it is more anecdotal. I expect we will see more in the data going forward.
The way I would put it is that the table is set for growth to pick up. It always takes some time for lower interest rates to pass through and affect households. Some people are affected right away. If you have a variable rate mortgage, the day we cut interest rates it affects you right away. If you're renewing, it takes some time. Different people are affected. It takes some time to pass through. However, we have been cutting since June, so it should start to pass through.
We do expect to see consumption per capita, which has been negative, start to strengthen and actually become positive as you move through next year.