Consumer Confidence Index Improves

U.S. consumer confidence rose slightly this month, but still remains near its lowest point in three decades, according to the Reuters/University of Michigan’s final monthly consumer sentiment index released Friday.

The final index for March increased to 57.3, from a 56.3 reading in February, the survey said. It reached a 28-year low, 55.3, in November 2008, and has averaged 112 over the last 30 years.

Economists had expected the reading to rise to a 56.8 reading. Bloomberg reported.