The consumer sentiment across the United States further improved in December compared to the previous month and surpassed market expectations, according to a preliminary report published by the University of Michigan on Friday.
The consumer sentiment index expanded by 4.5% to 70.4 points, while the current economic conditions rose 1.4% to 74.6 points and the consumer expectations index grew 6.8% to 67.8 points. However, all three indices suffered annual declines of 12.8%, 17.1%, and 9.1%, respectively.
"The decline in how consumers have judged their current financial situation was half as large as the decline in how they judged their future financial prospects. The split is presumably due to the impact of the cash stimulus and unemployment payments," the release concluded.
