Consumer Confidence Rises in November

Consumers have been feeling better about the economy in November – pushing the Conference Board's consumer confidence index higher for the first time in six months.

The New York-based board's index rose to 84.1 from 79.6 in October.

Analysts told Bloomberg that the rise in consumer confidence could signal a strong holiday season, as consumers think the economy can't get worse.

Even as confidence was shaken, home sales have remained strong, the Commerce Department said.

Even though sales of new homes fell 4.5% to an annual rate of 1.007 million in October, they were on pace to surpass 2001's record total of 908,000.

In September, home sales were on a record pace of 1.054 million, Commerce said.

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