Consumer confidence stays low

Consumer confidence among Floridians continues to hover around an all-time low, according to a regularly updated study conducted by the University of Florida.

UF researchers have set Florida consumer confidence in October at a value of 63, where 150 is the highest possible score and a rating of two is the lowest.

The lowest confidence level ever recorded was in June 2008, when confidence was at a 59 -- just four points below October's confidence level.

Chris McCarty, director of UF's Survey Research Center in the Bureau of Economic and Business Research, advises not to expect any significant change in confidence over the remainder of 2011. “There have been no consistent economic developments over the past couple of months to push confidence lower or raise it from its historically low levels,” he explains.

In January 2011, the university estimated consumer confidence among Floridians at a value of 77. But confidence has fallen in nearly every month since then.