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GAINESVILLE, Fla. – June 1, 2011 – Consumer confidence among Floridians remained at 68 in May, ending three consecutive months of decline, according to a new University of Florida (UF) survey.

“While the overall consumer confidence index has declined steadily over the last several months and remained flat this month, there has been some uncharacteristic volatility in the individual components,” said Chris McCarty, director of UF’s Survey Research Center in the Bureau of Economic and Business Research. “Of particular interest are the changes in perceptions of personal finances. This month, there was a decline in perceptions of personal finances now compared to a year ago, while expectations of personal finances increased from a record low in the release last month. We attribute most of these changes to fallout from the Florida budget.”

Three of the five index components increased or remained the same. Perceptions of respondents’ personal financial situation expected a year from now experienced the largest increase, rising three points to 76. Perceptions of U.S. economic conditions over the next year (66) and perceptions of U.S. economic conditions over the next five years (72) remained the same.

Confidence in purchasing big-ticket items such as cars and appliances fell one point to 74, and perceptions of personal financial situation now compared with a year ago fell four points to 52.