Australia’s consumer confidence has taken a small hit across the country following the rapid spread of the Omicron variant of COVID-19. The weekly ANZ Roy Morgan consumer confidence rating dropped by 2.4 points for the first week of the year, a week that usually sees a rise. Consumer confidence fell particularly hard in South Australia (11.8 points), which was not hit as hard by the Delta variant of the novel coronavirus, but has been struggling with the new variant Omicron. “Consistent with the drop in confidence, ANZ-observed spending is at its lowest level since the Delta lockdowns,” ANZ Head of Australian Economics David Plank said, referring to the week to Jan. 5. The observed spending data found that spending in Sydney and Melbourne had fallen to near lockdown levels, with Sydney at its lowest level since COVID-19 began. Spending in Queensland, South Australia, and Western Australia also fell sharply after …