Consumer Sentiment and Spending Still Support U.S. Recovery

It's been a mixed, holiday-shortened week for the U.S. economy: New home sales declined, but the Dow continued to solidify gains over 10,000 and while the Reuters/University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment index missed estimates and was revised lower, it still improved in December, totaling 72.5 for the month (final), up from 67.4 in November.