Consumer Confidence Climbs: Bloomberg

According to Bloomberg, consumer sentiment in the U.S. advanced last week to the second-highest level since 2008 as Americans grew more confident about their financial well-being.

The Bloomberg Consumer Comfort Index climbed to 38.1 in the period ended November 2, just short of the five-year high of 38.3 reached in August 2013. It rose almost 1 point from the prior week. The report's personal finances gauge was the strongest since mid-September.

The cost to fill up a car's fuel tank is less now than at any time in the past four years, giving consumers some extra spending money as the holiday-shopping season approaches.

Today's report on sentiment showed the gauge of personal finances rose to 54.1 from 52.2, while the buying-climate measure, which asks whether this is a good time to make purchases, increased to 32.7 from 31.6 the prior period.

While the Bloomberg measure about the state of the economy eased to 27.4 from 27.9, it remained close to a reading of 28 in mid-October that was the highest since January 2008.