US Consumer Sentiment Rises for First Time in Five Months

Shoppers inside the Serramonte Mall on Black Friday in Daly City, California.

Photographer: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg

US consumer sentiment rose for the first time in five months, bolstered by a more optimistic outlook for personal finances as inflation expectations improved.

The preliminary December sentiment index rose to 53.3 from 51 a month earlier, according to the University of Michigan. The survey period includes responses from Nov. 18 to Dec. 1, following the end of the record-long federal government shutdown.