Consumer confidence among Floridians inched up one point to 68 in January despite worse than expected holiday retail sales and the state being tied for 10th place in the percentage of unemployed workers, a new University of Florida study finds.
The makeup of the results was quite different from last month, with perhaps the biggest change in the component measuring perceptions of personal finances now compared with a year ago. It broke a four-month trend downward to rise five points from last month's record low of 39.
In other changes, perceptions of personal finances a year from now fell three points to 84; perceptions of national economic conditions over the next year fell four points to 58; perceptions of national economic conditions over the next five years fell one point to 77; and perceptions of whether it is a good time to buy big-ticket items rose five points to 76.
"Overall, Floridians are more optimistic this month than last month, although the overall numbers are still historically low," says Chris McCarty, director of the UF's Survey Research Center at the Bureau of Economic and Business Research. "Moving forward there is no reason to believe that the economy will improve dramatically for the next two quarters. This recession is more severe than most, and there are some aspects that are different than others."
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