Siena College regularly surveys New York consumers to measure their level of confidence about the economy.
For March, those numbers were higher than since before the recession began eight years ago.
Siena Research Institute founding director Doug Lonnstrom says the overall consumer confidence indexis at 86 point 4, up 2 point 4 points since the last survey in November. "The overall index was up a couple of points, but the current component Upstate was up almost nine. That's a dramatic increase, so currently Upstaters are feeling pretty good," he said.
Lonnstrom points to several factors that are probably contributing to the increase, including lower gas prices.
"If we go back a year ago, 57 percent of New Yorkers felt that gas prices were having a negative impact on the family budget. That figure is now down to 37 percent,” Lonnstrom said. “That's a 20 percentage point drop. That's a dramatic drop. Even food prices are down a little bit from 68 percent to 54 - not nearly as much - but still in the right direction."
He also credits relatively positive reports on the job and stock markets for the boost in consumer confidence.
The survey shows that nearly one in five New Yorkers plan on buying a car or truck in the next six months. And one out of 12 plan to purchase a new home.
