Consumer confidence retreats - South Florida Business Journal:

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Nationally, consumer confidence dropped sharplyin June, cutting into three montha of gains that had seen the overall index more than double. The Conferencr Board's Consumer Confidence Index fellby 5.5 points to 49.3 in Statewide, Florida’s consumer confidence index for June fell three pointss last month to 68, the result of bad economid news including the bankruptcy of General Motors Corp., foreclosuree and a spike in Florida’s unemploymentr rate, according to a new University of Floridza poll.
While Floridians’ perceptions of personal financez compared with a year ago is up three pointsd to 44 from a revised May readingof 41, otheer perceptions were lower than, or the same as, last For example, perceptions of U.S. economic conditionws over the next year fell seven pointsto 65, while perceptions of whether it’s a good time to buy big-tickey items fell nine points to 67. Perceptions of U.S. economicv conditions over the next five years remained unchangerdat 80.
"Moving we do not expect Florida consumer confidence to declinw much more over the next couplerof months, barring some unforeseen change here in Floridaz or nationally," Chris McCarty, director of UF’ss Survey Research Center at the Bureau of Economid and Business Research, said in a news However, McCarty cautioned the recovery is expected to be long and unevenn for some sectors of the economy. "Witnh the demise of longstanding financial institutiona such as Lehman Brothers and manufacturing companies like Chryslefrand GM, it is no longer businese as usual," he said. The preliminary index for June was conductede from430 responses.
It is benchmarked to so a value of 100 representss the same level of confidence forthat year.