Florida's economy may be teetering on the brink of recovery, but consumers don’t seem to be feeling it.

Florida consumers have the worst outlook on what's ahead for their personal finances in 25 years, according to a survey released Tuesday.

That dismal report is part of the state's monthly consumer confidence index for July. Overall, Floridians’ consumer confidence declined as well, to its lowest point in 16 months, as oil from the Deepwater Horizon well was flowing into the Gulf of Mexico for most of the month. The nationwide consumer confidence index also fell.

In July, the index for Floridians’ outlook on their own personal finances one year from now reached the lowest point ever, said the University of Florida’s Chris McCarty, director of the Survey Research Center in the Bureau of Economic and Business Research. The center began measuring perceptions of personal finances in February 1985. The figure in July was at 78.

McCarty said the pessimism about personal finances grew largely because of responses from those who are age 60 and older. The personal finance outlook didn't change in July for those who are younger.

“The value of a home and home equity are a big part of most people’s retirement nest egg and they’ve seen that wiped away,” said economist Sean Snaith of the University of Central Florida in Orlando. “Maybe the realization is now starting to weigh heavily on sentiment that this not going to rebound anytime soon?”

Overall, all Floridians are growing more glum in their outlook.

The overall index of Florida consumer confidence — which includes personal finances as well as four other components — fell two points to 65 in July, the lowest rating in 16 months. The last time the figure was at 65 was in March 2009.

“Although Florida was by no means recovered from the recession, there were signs that the economy was turning around prior to the oil spill,” McCarty said.

He pointed to a stabilization in the median home price in Florida, an uptick in some sectors of the state’s employment including leisure and hospitality, and a gain in Florida's sales tax revenues in May compared to last year. “Nothing really had changed for the worse,” he said.

The Gulf oil spill’s impact may be weighing on consumers’ minds, McCarty said. Analysts are still trying to figure out the eventual impact on employment, spending and tourism in Florida.

Last month, before the well was capped, Snaith predicted that in the worst case, the spill could put almost 195,000 Floridians out of work and reduce spending in Florida by $10.9 billion. On Tuesday, Snaith said he doesn’t expect that worst-case scenario to become reality, but he’s still waiting on data from this summer before he revises the prediction.

Nationwide, the Conference Board's index of consumer confidence also declined. It fell by 3.9 percentage points to 50.4.

“Given consumers’ heightened level of anxiety, along with their pessimistic income outlook and lackluster job growth, retailers are very likely to face a challenging back-to-school season,” said the Conference Board's Lynn Franco in a statement.