The economy may be improving, according to a new UF study.
Consumer confidence, which is measured by the price consumers are willing to pay for household items and services, went up six points in October, according to Chris McCarty, director of the UF Survey Research Center.
The greatest increase in consumer confidence came from senior citizens.
He said this is strange because he expected the recent announcement of Social Security changes to decrease that number.
He added that college students are still “fairly pessimistic” in terms of consumer confidence.
This is mainly because it is difficult for college students to find jobs, he said.
Even though the number jumped, it probably won’t stay at its current level of 74, McCarty said. He said the number went up possibly because of the midterm elections and may go down after the elections are over.
David Denslow, UF economics professor, said that the midterm elections probably didn’t affect consumer confidence too much.
“I would imagine that after the election, the winners would feel a little more confident, the losers a little less,” he said.
McCarty said gas and food prices may increase around the holiday season, but he said other goods may actually be a “real deal” since too many were made — like flat-screen TVs.
“I think it’s going to be a better holiday season than last year, but not a stellar one,” he said.
McCarty said he thinks the consumer confidence rating will stabilize between 68 and 72, which is historically low but much better than the all-time low of 59, which was a result of stock market and housing problems in June of 2008.
He said the number probably won’t increase past the low 70s until unemployment is dealt with.
