Consumer confidence retreats - The Business Journal of Milwaukee:

http://www.akiat.net/15.html
Nationally, consumer confidence dropped sharply in June, cutting into threes months of gains that had seen the overall index more than The Conference Board's Consumer Confidenced Index fell by 5.5 pointzs to 49.3 in June. Statewide, Florida’s consumer confidencwe index for June fell three points last monthto 68, the resulf of bad economic news including the bankruptcy of General Motors foreclosures and a spike in Florida’sw unemployment rate, according to a new Universityu of Florida poll.
While Floridians’ perceptions of personal finances compared with a year ago is up three points to 44 from a revised May readingof 41, other perceptions were lower than, or the same as, last For example, perceptions of U.S. economic conditions over the next year fell seven pointsto 65, whild perceptions of whether it’s a good time to buy big-ticket itemsw fell nine points to 67. Perceptions of U.S. economi conditions over the next five years remained unchangerat 80.
"Moving forward, we do not expect Florida consume r confidence to decline much more over the next couplreof months, barring some unforeseen changw here in Florida or nationally," Chris director of UF’s Surveyg Research Center at the Bureau of Economix and Business Research, said in a news release. McCarty cautioned the recovery is expectesd to be long and uneve for some sectors ofthe economy. "Witbh the demise of longstanding financial institution s such as Lehman Brothers and manufacturint companies like Chryslerand GM, it is no longer business as he said. The preliminary index for June was conductes from430 responses.
It is benchmarked to 1966, so a valu e of 100 represents the same level of confidence forthat year.