Consumer Confidence Improves

Consumer confidence rose this month to a six-month high, according to the Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan consumer sentiment index released Friday.

The December preliminary index increased to a reading of 67.7, from 64.1 in November.

The reading surpassed economists’ median forecast of a 65.8 reading, Bloomberg reported.

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