Consumer sentiment in the U.S. has seen a significant improvement in the month of January, according to a report released by the University of Michigan on Friday.
The report showed that the preliminary reading on the consumer sentiment index for January came in at 98.2 compared to the final December reading of 93.6. Economists had expected the index to climb to a reading of 94.1.
With the much bigger than expected increase, the consumer sentiment index reached its highest level since January of 2004.
The jump by the headline index was partly due to a notable increase by the survey's gauge of consumer expectations, which jumped to 91.6 in January from 86.4 in December.
The barometer of current economic conditions also climbed to 108.3 in January from 104.8 in the previous month.
The report also said one-year inflation expectations fell to 2.4 percent in January from 2.8 percent in December, while the five-year inflation outlook was unchanged at 2.8 percent.
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