As optimism rises in making large purchases, so does consumer confidence, according to the new monthly index taken by the University of Florida. There are five components that make up the index, they are; purchasing big-ticket items, perceptions of personal finances, expectations of personal finances in a year from now, expectations of U.S. economic conditions over the next five years and perceptions of the U.S. economic conditions over the next year.

Four out of the five components increased or remained unchanged, the only decline seen was in the perceptions of the U.S. economic conditions over the next year, which only fell by one point. Purchasing big ticket items jumped five points; this includes homes, cars, appliances and the like.

Chris McCarty, director of the University of Florida's Survey Research Center in the Bureau of Economic and Business Research, states Some of this may have to do with declines in gas prices during the month of June and much of July, this leaves more money in peoples budgets for other purchases.

The unemployment rate in the state of Florida remained the same in June, after five months of a decline and home sales were also down, yet the median price of $138,000 for single family homes increased again for the fourth straight month, which is to say that half of the homes sold for more than $138,000 and half of the homes sold for less.

The index for June was collected from 414 responses. The lowest index that is possible is 2, while the highest is 150.