Home / Markets
Friday, April 17, 2009
Consumer Sentiment Makes Surprise Improvement
By Ken Sweet
FOXBusiness
A preliminary report on consumer sentiment showed that consumers’ opinions on the U.S. economy unexpectedly improved in April.
According to the Reuters/University of Michigan preliminary consumer sentiment index, consumers’ opinions of the economy rose to a reading of 61.9, up from a reading of 57.3 in March. It was highest reading for consumer confidence since September - when Lehman Brothers went bankrupt and the credit crisis reached its apex.
The reading was much better than the reading of 57.5 that was expected by economists, according to Thomson Reuters.
The rise in consumer sentiment is possibly related to some recent improvements in the stock market and some better than expected news on the economy. The Dow has risen more than 22% since the early March lows and the housing market has seen some reports of bottoming.
A consumer opinion reading about the state of the economy was 66.6, versus 63.3 the prior month, while the expectations index jumped to 58.9, from March's 53.5.
Fox Business Video
-
-
Euro Debt Could Boost Gold
-
Feb 9, 2010
FOXBusiness.com LIVE
-
-
-
Health-Care Reform vs. Job Creation
-
Feb 9, 2010
Question of the Day
-
-
-
Ron Paul on Stimulus
-
Feb 9, 2010
Future of government bailouts?
-
-
-
U.S. No Longer the Space Explo...
-
Feb 9, 2010
Future of space program
-
-
-
Toyota Will Recover
-
Feb 9, 2010
Will the auto manufacturer bounce back?
-
Last 5 Stocks
- Ticker
- Company
- Price
- Change