U.S. consumer sentiment rose in March, as Americans discounted the effects of government budget cuts and instead saw continued improvement in the labor market, the University of Michigan reported Friday. The university's final March reading on consumer sentiment rose to 78.6—the highest level since November—from 77.6 the previous month. The final March figure also was up sharply from a preliminary March reading of 71.8, as consumer confidence jumped sharply in the second half of the month. “Consumers have discounted the [Obama] administration's warning that economic catastrophe would follow the reductions in federal spending, and consumers have renewed their expectation that gains in employment will accelerate through the rest of 2013," said survey director Richard Curtin. The survey's measure of current economic conditions rose to 90.7 this month from 89.0 in February, while its index of consumer expectations rose to 70.8 from 70.2. Economists closely watch consumer-confidence indexes for clues on consumer spending, which accounts for about 70 percent of U.S. economic activity.
