"The big drop in the unemployment rate in September and October, that's probably making the numbers look better"
- Stephen Stanley, chief economist at Pierpont Securities LLC
Confidence among the U.S. consumers soared to the highest level since July 2007, as the labour market is showing some signs of the improvement and the outlook for the world's biggest economy is getting more optimistic. The preliminary reading of the University of Michigan/Thomson Reuters consumer-sentiment index advanced to 84.9 in November, compared to 82.6 in the prior month. The gauge of consumers' views on current economic conditions rocketed to 91.3 this month, up from 88.1 in October.
"More consumers expected good rather than bad times financially in the economy in early November, not only for the year ahead but over the next five years as well," survey director Richard Curtin said on Friday. "This was the most positive outlook for the overall economy in more than five years."
"The big drop in the unemployment rate in September and October, that's probably making the numbers look better," said Stephen Stanley, chief economist at Pierpont Securities LLC in Stamford, Connecticut.
Standard & Poor's 500 edged higher 0.17 per cent to 1,379.85. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.03 per cent to 12,815.39. The Nasdaq Composite rallied 0.32 per cent, or 9.29 points, to 2,904.87.
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