CONSUMER CONFIDENCE INCREASES ECONOMY'S BOUNCING BACK, SOUTHLANDERS FEEL.

Byline: Evan Pondel Staff Writer

An economic belly flop has done little to thwart consumer confidence, as the index rebounded after five months of decline.

The consumer-confidence index advanced eight points in March to 117, up from a revised 109.2 in February.

``This is good news,`` said Daniel Blake, professor of economics at California State University, Northridge. ``It may mean less pressure to push the interest rates down.''

However, Blake said economists need to gauge consumer confidence for at least three months before drawing conclusions about the overall state of the economy.

At the 99 Cents Store Only on the corner of Vanowen Street and Van Nuys Boulevard in Van Nuys, not only do consumers have faith in the store's bargains, they have confidence in the economy.

David Mizener, a 58-year-old owner of a contract-licensing school, said his Van Nuys-based business is flourishing.

``This is the best month I've had in 15 years,'' Mizener said.

While home sales declined moderately last month, Mizener said the building business is staying aloft amid economic turbulence.

Instead of focusing on small incremental gains, Mizener said he's in the market for the long term because his 401(k) is heavily invested in mutual funds.

Consumers expecting an improvement in business increased from 11.3 percent in February to 15.4 percent in March, according to the New York- based Conference Board.

Consumers speculating that conditions will worsen decreased from 17.6 percent to 13.6 percent, while 12.2 percent of consumers expect more jobs to become available, up from 10.8 percent last month.

Lara Bachelder, a 28-year-old mother of two, arrived at the 99 Cents store with her 4-year-old daughter to buy some household goods.

With a mop in one hand and her daughter trailing behind, Bachelder said her husband is a musician and times are tough, regardless of economic woes.

``We are a little more cautious in what we buy,'' Bachelder said.

Though Bachelder said she isn't overly concerned about the economy, her grandfather is her litmus test when it comes to investing. She said her grandfather has grown tense over the past few months, but remains optimistic.

Kem Hagem, a clearly optimistic 28-year-old unemployed man, said he thinks the economy is chugging along just fine.

``I believe there is still a bull market in the technology world,'' Hagem said.

As for last week's bear market scare, ``it's just cyclonic - it's the basic nature of a capitalistic society,'' Hagem said.