Washington, DC, January 19, 2007— According to the University of Michigan, consumer sentiment improved in January to the highest level in three years.
The consumer sentiment index rose to 98.0 in January from 91.7 in December.
The increase was well above the consensus forecast of Wall Street economists who had expected sentiment to rise to 92.0.
The current conditions index rose to 112.5 in January from 108.1 in December. It's the highest since July 2005.
The expectations index rose from 81.2 to 88.7, the highest since December 2004. Consumers' expectations about inflation over the next five years remained at 3%.
