PHOTO COURTESY OF WIKIMEDIA

GAINESVILLE, Fla. (AP) – Consumer confidence is continuing to rise in Florida.

The monthly University of Florida consumer survey released Tuesday shows consumer confidence rose for the second straight month. The survey measured confidence in July at 97.7, which is 1.5 points higher than it was previously. The lowest index possible is a 2, and the highest is 150.

This is only the second time since March 2002 that consumer confidence has been this high in Florida.

Hector Sandoval of the Economic Analysis Program at UF’s Bureau of Economic and Business Research said that women, older residents and those that earn less than $50,000 a year have very positive views about their personal financial situation.

He also said that survey recipients were more optimistic about the future.