AlHijjah 27, 1432, Nov 23, 2011, SPA -- U.S. consumer sentiment improved in late November as some of the pessimism over the economic outlook faded, the University of Michigan reported Wednesday. Its final reading on consumer sentiment rose to 64.1 this month from 60.9 in October. "The most important aspect of improved prospects for the economy was that consumers anticipated slight job gains," survey director Richard Curtin said in a statement. "Consumers were no more positive about the current state of the economy, but they were less likely to expect the economy to worsen in the year ahead." The vast majority of November surveys were conducted before the congressional debt-reducing "super committee" announced it had failed to reach agreement. Still, confidence in the ability of current government policies to improve the economy has remained at record lows for the past several months. The survey's measure of current economic conditions rose to 77.6 in November from 75.1 the previous month, while the gauge of consumer expectations rose to 55.4 from 51.8 in October.
