Consumer confidence falls in N.J.

A new Fairleigh Dickinson PublicMind poll shows consumer confidence in New Jersey is falling.

Even though the majority of Garden State residents believe the state is heading in the right direction, only 26 percent say they’re better off financially than they were last year. That’s six points lower than January.

“The stock market has been up and down,” says Rich Higginson, the poll’s director of consumer research. “There’s been a series of starts and stops, it seems, with the economy and it just never really seemed like the economy got fired off. So I think there’s uncertainty starting to creep into the minds of Jersey residents.”

Higginson says unemployment and stagnant housing prices are also making many New Jersey residents pessimistic.

He says the outcome of the presidential election can help boost the economy and cause perceptions about consumer finances to improve.