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Big Ticket Items Spur Growth In Florida Consumer Confidence
December 2, 2013
Florida’s consumer confidence showed some life in November after falling sharply in October as the federal-government shutdown and another debt-ceiling debate loomed in Congress, according to a University of Florida report.
On a scale that ranges from 2 to 150, confidence among Floridians rose to a 76 from a revised 70 in October, according to numbers released Tuesday. A big reason for the increase is an improved perception that now is a good time to buy big-ticket items, such as cars.
“That component is now at the highest since April 2007 when the economy was showing signs of the bursting housing bubble which led to the Great Recession,” Chris McCarty, director of UF’s Survey Research Center in the Bureau of Economic and Business Research, said in a news release.
Despite the overall increase in optimism, Florida seniors remain the most pessimistic consumers, McCarty noted.
“They were likely concerned over the potential consequences of a default on U.S. debt, such as potential delays in the distribution of Social Security and the negative effects such a default would have on an otherwise strong stock market,” McCarty said.
Comments
One Response to “Big Ticket Items Spur Growth In Florida Consumer Confidence”
Seniors for the most part live on fixed incomes. Most of the utility companies have raised their rates, which increases the cost of living far more than the small amount of SSI increase for 2014. That means since there are quite a few retirees in Florida you will not see them spending as much. The new healthcare laws will take a lot of money out of consumer’s pockets in 2014. Enjoy it while it lasts because I doubt next year will be as profitable for businesses, except insurance and healthcare.