Tepid consumer sentiment remains hurdle for economy

It was a pretty good week for the U.S. economy: initial reports on third quarter corporate earnings were mostly satisfactory, jobless claims continued to decline, and factory production increased. One metric that underperformed, however, was consumer sentiment, which fell unexpectedly.

The Reuters/University of Michigan Surveys of Consumers said its consumer sentiment index for October (preliminary) fell to 69.4 from 73.5 in September, Reuters reported Friday. The index was at 65.7 in August. The index hit a cycle low of 55.3 in November 2008; its record low of 51.7 was set in May 1980.

Economists surveyed by Bloomberg News had expected the index to total 74.0 in September (preliminary).