(Bloomberg) -- UK consumer confidence edged higher in December, as households looked forward to lower inflation and a slightly improved economy in 2024.

The market research firm GfK Ltd. said its measure of sentiment increased 2 points to minus 22, the highest level since September and also levels prevailing two years ago. The negative reading still means household confidence is shaky.

The increased optimism was seen across all of GfK’s measures, including respondents’ personal financial situation, the general economic situation, major purchases and savings. 

“Despite the severe cost-of-living crisis still impacting most households, this slow, but persistent, movement towards positive territory for the personal finance measure looking ahead is an encouraging sign for the year to come,” GfK’s Client Strategy Director Joe Staton said in a statement Friday.

Stronger sentiments among consumers underscore the challenge facing Bank of England policymakers as they try to determine how long to keep interest rates at a 15-year high. BOE Governor Andrew Bailey reiterated his message that it was too soon to start talking about cuts on Thursday after the British central bank voted for a third straight meeting to leave rates where they were.

The BOE cautioned that it was “too early to conclude that services price inflation and pay growth were on a firmly downward path.” Policymakers were concerned about a tight labor market fueling persistent inflation with annual wage growth still running at above 7%. 

Separate data from the Recruitment and Employment Confederation showed the number of job vacancies in the market was still unusually high. Postings on the REC’s measure ticked up 7.7% to 1.44 million in the week commencing Nov. 27, though this was 8.6% lower than the same time a year earlier.

There were 186,329 new jobs advertised that week, the REC said — just 2.6% fewer than a year earlier — with notable increases in adverts for physiotherapists, midwives and occupational therapists. No region saw a decline in job adverts on the previous week. 

“The slower economy this year has not reduced hiring as much as it would have in previous cycles due to low labor supply and skills shortages,” said REC Chief Executive Neil Carberry. “This is a particular challenge for sectors that have been struggling to hire, from hospitality and engineering to health and social care.”

(Updates with Bank of England decision in fifth paragraph. And earlier version corrected the scale of the increase in the headline and second paragraph.)

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