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Consumer Confidence On The Rise In Florida

GAINESVILLE (CBSMiami/AP) — Florida's consumers don't seem to mind the still struggling recovery as consumer confidence continues to rise in the Sunshine State.

The monthly University of Florida survey released Tuesday shows the state's consumer confidence was 81 in the month of March. That's on a scale of 2 to 150 benchmarked to 1966 at a value of 100.

This is three points higher than February. It is one of the highest consumer confidence rankings since the Great Recession. It has reached this same mark twice since December 2007.

Chris McCarty, director of the UF center that does the survey, says the increase was expected given relatively good economic news and that Congress budget deals have provided a level of certainty.

McCarty says the biggest threat to consumer confidence could be the ongoing dispute between Russia and the United States over Ukraine.

(TM and © Copyright 2014 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2014 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)

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