Consumer Confidence Surges

It's Benzinga, bringing Wall Street to Main Street. U.S. consumer confidence rebounded in October to its highest level since June, as Americans reported improved assessments of current business conditions and future expectations, according to the Wall Street Journal. Research group The Conference Board reported that the consumer confidence index rose to 91.7 from 84.2 in September, beating economists' expectations of 81. The present situation index increased to 120.4, while the expectations index climbed 6.9 points to 72.6. The labor market differential improved 2.4 percentage points to 5.3 percent. Fergus McCormick, senior economist at the Conference Board, linked the recovery to easing retail gasoline prices. However, McCormick said, consumer confidence remained on a long-term downward trend. A separate University of Michigan survey showed consumer sentiment declining slightly in October. For all things money, visit Benzinga.com.