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Consumers are still hesitant about the prospects for an economic recovery, according to the latest Reuters/University of Michigan Survey.
The monthly survey found that consumer sentiment fell to 69.4 in October, down from last month's 73.5. This came even as the Dow Jones Industrial Average made its way back above 10,000 and as unemployment continued to show some signs of leveling off.
Reuters noted in its report that economists had been expecting sentiment to remain unchanged last month, and that consumers increasingly saving money and paying down debts could result in a slower economic recovery.
Elsewhere, the Federal Reserve reported that industrial production rose 0.7 percent in September, following a 1.2 percent gain in August. The previous several months are also set to combine for the first quarterly gain since the first quarter of 2008, and also the largest production gain since the first quarter of 2005.
Manufacturing has been especially hard hit in the current recession, and signs of health in this sector will be seen as an especially encouraging economic indicator.
By Steve Monfort
Consumer sentiment fell last month
Consumers are still hesitant about the prospects for an economic recovery, according to the latest Reuters/University of Michigan Survey. The monthly survey found that consumer sentiment fell to 69.4 in October, down from last month's 73.5. This came even as the Dow Jones Industrial Average made its way back above 10,000 and as unemployment continued to show some signs of leveling off.
Reuters noted in its report that economists had been expecting sentiment to remain unchanged last month, and that consumers increasingly saving money and paying down debts could result in a slower economic recovery.
Elsewhere, the Federal Reserve reported that industrial production rose 0.7 percent in September, following a 1.2 percent gain in August. The previous several months are also set to combine for the first quarterly gain since the first quarter of 2008, and also the largest production gain since the first quarter of 2005.
Manufacturing has been especially hard hit in the current recession, and signs of health in this sector will be seen as an especially encouraging economic indicator.
By Steve Monfort
