Consumer Confidence Drops

Consumer confidence declined this month, according to the Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan consumer sentiment index released Friday.

The October preliminary index decreased to a reading of 57.5, from 59.4 in September.

The reading fell short of economists’ median forecast of a 60.2 reading, Bloomberg reported.

The index averaged a reading of 89 in the five years leading up to the recession at the end of 2007.