Despite reported record spending for Black Friday, consumer confidence remains at historic low levels, a new University of Florida study reported Wednesday.
The National Retail Federation reported Black Friday sales took in $52.4 billion, 16 percent more than a year earlier for the traditional start of the holiday shopping season.
However, it remains to be seen if shopping will continue through December for the end-of-year holidays or if the high post-Thanksgiving sales were simply a reflection of enticing sales.
The sluggishness comes from the outlook that economic problems in Europe may drag into the United States, which could result in only modest growth this holiday season compared to 2010, the report states.
Chris McCarty, director of UFs Survey Research Center at the Bureau of Economic and Business Research, stated in a release that the economic conditions in Florida remain mixed.
Consumers are slightly less optimistic about current conditions than last month and slightly more optimistic about long-run conditions, McCarty stated. The improved optimism about buying conditions may reflect retailer discounting for the holiday season. Most of the index components are lower than the same time last year.
Overall, consumers' personal finances and perceptions of U.S. economic conditions over the next two years both fell, while their perception of personal finances and whether it's now a good time to buy big-ticket items both rose.
However, consumers have a better view of the U.S. economy in five years.
Factoring into the views, unemployment is down 0.3 percent from September, but the growth in jobs is mostly in service-industry jobs that traditionally become available in the winter months across the Sunshine State.
Sustained job increases in tourism may be difficult as austerity programs constrain discretionary spending in Europe and, eventually, the U.S. housing activity remains subdued, with the median price for a single family home down from both September and October of last year, at $131, 500, the university stated in a release.
A sign that consumers are cutting back on spending is that gas pump prices are down 7 cents a gallon from a month ago, in large part due to a drop in demand.
Reach Jim Turner at jturner@sunshinestatenews.com, (850) 727-0859, or (772) 215-9889.
