NEW YORK, Dec. 6 (Xinhua) -- The preliminary December consumer sentiment index climbed to 74 from 71.8, the highest since April, according to the University of Michigan, while the median estimate in a Bloomberg survey of economists called for a reading of 73.2.
"Consumers expect prices to rise at an annual rate of 2.9 percent over the next year," said Bloomberg News in its report on Friday. "And they saw costs rising at an annual rate of 3.1 percent over the next five to 10 years, compared with 3.2% in the prior month."
