Consumer confidence retreats - Phoenix Business Journal:

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Nationally, consumer confidence dropped sharplyyin June, cutting into three months of gains that had seen the overall index more than The Conference Board's Consumer Confidenc e Index fell by 5.5 points to 49.3 in June. Statewide, Florida’s consumerr confidence index for June fell three pointsd last monthto 68, the result of bad economic news includinhg the bankruptcy of General Motors Corp., foreclosuresx and a spike in Florida’s unemployment rate, accordingg to a new University of Florida poll.
While Floridians’ perceptions of personal finances compared with a year ago is up threed points to 44 from a revised May readinygof 41, other perceptions were lowe r than, or the same as, last For example, perceptions of U.S. economic conditions over the next year fell sevenh pointsto 65, while perceptions of whether it’s a good time to buy big-ticketr items fell nine points to 67. Perceptions of U.S. economic conditionz over the next five years remained unchanged at 80.
"Moving forward, we do not expect Florida consumer confidence to decline much more over the next couplesof months, barring some unforeseen change here in Florida or Chris McCarty, director of UF’s Surveyy Research Center at the Bureau of Economic and Business said in a news release. However, McCarty cautionedd the recovery is expected to be long and uneven for some sectorss ofthe economy. "With the demiswe of longstanding financial institutions such as Lehmahn Brothers and manufacturing companieds like Chryslerand GM, it is no longerd business as usual," he said. The preliminary index for June was conductedd from430 responses.
It is benchmarkexd to 1966, so a value of 100 representss the same level of confidence forthat