U.S. consumer sentiment in the month of January improved by even more than previously estimated, according to a revised report released by Reuters and the University of Michigan on Friday.
The report showed that the consumer sentiment index for January was upwardly revised to a reading of 75.0 from the mid-month reading of 74.0.
With the upward revision, which came as a surprise to economists, the consumer sentiment index is well above the final December reading of 69.9. Economists had expected the index to be unrevised.
The upwardly revised reading also marks an eleven-month high for the consumer sentiment index, which is at its best level since coming in at 77.5 last February.
Peter Boockvar, equity strategist at Miller Tabak, said, "Bottom line, an improving jobs market is the single biggest influence on consumer confidence and the uptick to near a one year high reflects that."
"But we're still a long ways away from the 10-year high in confidence of 103.8 seen in 2004, as many jobs lost in the recession have [not] yet been brought back," he added.
The report showed a notable upward revision to the current economic conditions index, which came in at 84.2 compared to the mid-month reading of 82.6 and the December reading of 79.6.
The consumer expectations index was also upwardly revised to 69.1 from 68.4 and is up sharply from 63.6 in December.
Additionally, one-year inflation expectations were upwardly revised to 3.3 percent from 3.2 percent and are up two tenths from December.
On the other hand, the five-year inflation outlook was downwardly revised to 2.7 percent from 2.8 percent and is now unchanged compared to the previous month.
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