UF: Confidence down

While some economists say that the recession is over, a new survey conducted by the University of Florida suggests Floridians aren't buying it.

Consumer confidence in the state of Florida fell in June, and consumers overall are feeling significantly worse off this year relative to 2009, the survey suggested.

In part, the results came back as anticipated. “We had expected consumer confidence to decline due to the effects of the oil spill,” said Chris McCarty, survey director at UF's Bureau of Economic and Business Research.

But how that decline ended up taking shape surprised him.

“What we did not expect was the main effect to be in the components measuring perceptions of personal finances both now and in the future,” McCarty said in a release.

In particular, a metric tracking how consumers feel about their present personal financial state fell roughly 17% in June. A similar metric observing how consumers feel about their likely personal financial circumstances a year from now also fell.

“The decline in the personal finance questions suggests that on top of the weak recovery, the oil spill has caused some real economic pain, such as through jobs related to tourism and perceptions of lower property values,” offered McCarty.

McCarty's outlook mirrors Floridian's gloominess. “We don't expect this decline in perceptions of personal finances to turn around quickly,” he said.

The Florida Consumer Attitude survey is conducted monthly, and 435 individuals were polled for the most recent version.