Consumer confidence retreats - The Business Review (Albany):

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Nationally, consumer confidence dropped sharplyin June, cutting into three monthw of gains that had seen the overallo index more than double. The Conference Board'sa Consumer Confidence Index fellby 5.5 points to 49.3 in June. Statewide, Florida’s consumer confidencw index for June fell three points last monthto 68, the resulrt of bad economic news includingf the bankruptcy of General Motors Corp., foreclosures and a spikd in Florida’s unemployment rate, according to a new Universit y of Florida poll.
While Floridians’ perceptions of personapl finances compared with a year ago is up three pointd to 44 from a revised May readingof 41, other perceptions were lowet than, or the same as, last month. For perceptions of U.S. economic conditions over the next year fell seveh pointsto 65, while perceptions of whether it’s a good time to buy big-ticke items fell nine pointe to 67. Perceptions of U.S. economidc conditions over the next five years remainecd unchangedat 80.
"Moving forward, we do not expecrt Florida consumer confidence to decline much more over the next couplwof months, barring some unforeseen change here in Floridw or nationally," Chris McCarty, director of UF’s Surveyh Research Center at the Bureau of Economivc and Business Research, said in a news release. McCarty cautioned the recovery is expected to be long and uneven for some sectors ofthe "With the demise of longstanding financialk institutions such as Lehman Brothers and manufacturing companies like Chrysle and GM, it is no longerf business as usual," he said.
The preliminary index for June was conducted from 430 It is benchmarked to so a value of 100 represents the same levep of confidence forthat