Florida’s consumer confidence jumps six points as housing signs improve

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Consumer confidence among Floridians surged six points to 71 in April amid indicators of flattening housing prices statewide and news that the economy has not worsened, a new University of Florida survey finds.

“The size of the increase comes as somewhat of a surprise,” said Chris McCarty, director of UF’s Survey Research Center at the Bureau of Economic and Business Research. “We had expected confidence among Florida’s consumers to move up and down in a fairly narrow window from the low to the upper 60s.”

While there are certainly some signs that the economy may be improving, such as housing prices possibly hitting their lowest point, many negative conditions still exist, such as continuing job losses, McCarty said. Florida’s unemployment rate of 9.7 percent is the highest since 1976, he said.

“However, in balance, consumers seem to have absorbed most of the bad news and are at least not seeing things getting much worse,” he said. “Perhaps we really have seen the bottom in terms of Florida consumer confidence, which was back in June of last year.”

Florida’s consumer confidence jumps six points as housing signs improve - University of Florida News - April 28, 2009
Consumer confidence surges - University of Florida News - April 28, 2009 (Video)

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