Getting the report on this new April 2010 survey from BEBR, I did some research as to the credibility of the source. Established in 1979 to conduct research on consumer attitudes and buying behavior in Florida, the Bureau of Economic and Business Research (BEBR) Survey Research program has grown into a state-of-the-art survey research program. Renamed in 2001 to the UF Survey Research Center (UFSRC), the program conducts a regular monthly survey of some 500 households in Florida and issues their Florida Consumer Confidence Index. The April Consumer Confidence Survey showed some very positive signs, in spite of the state's record unemployment. Confidence spiked in April 6 points to 77 over March's 71 level. Expectations of U.S. economic conditions over the next year rose 10 points to 80. However the biggest jump was in the perception of whether it is a good time to buy big-ticket item... which rose a whopping 14 points to 87!
Consumer confidence has not been this high in Florida since October 2007 when it was at 79. "Florida's consumers have been full of surprises the past several months," Dr. Chris McCarty, director of the program, says. "Much like the reading for January, this rise in confidence was completely unexpected. Last month Florida broke its all-time record for unemployment at 12.3 percent. Yet Floridians are far more optimistic this month than last."
"Consumers are clearly optimistic that the United States is in recovery and that the economy will at least not get any worse," McCarty says. "Therefore, some of the spending may be pent-up demand from households that were cautious about spending when the recession was at its height and when job losses were on the rise."
Although long-term unemployment remains a serious problem in the near term, it appears that layoffs have mostly stopped.
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