Consumer Confidence Rises in October

Consumer confidence rose in October, according to the Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan consumer sentiment index released Friday.

The month’s preliminary index reading rose to 83.1, the highest since September 2007, from 78.3 the previous month, the survey said.

Economists had forecast the index would fall to 78, Bloomberg reported.

The survey’s index of current conditions asks Americans if they are better off than they were a year ago and if it is a good time to buy big-ticket items.