Final October tally shows drop in consumer sentiment

It was a decent week for the U.S. economy: Q3 U.S. GDP growth totaled 3.5 percent – not robust, but above economists' expectations for the quarter and further evidence that the economic recovery is underway. However, consumer sentiment fell for the month.

The Reuters/University of Michigan Surveys of Consumers said that although its consumer sentiment index for October increased to a final reading of 70.6 from the 69.4 preliminary reading for the month, as Reuters reported Friday, it was down from the September reading of 74.0. The index hit a cycle low of 55.3 in November 2008 (its record low of 51.7 was set in May 1980).