US consumer sentiment rise to second-highest since 2007

US consumer sentiment in April rose to the second-highest level since 2007 as Americans became more optimistic about their financial prospects, a survey showed Friday.

The final reading of the consumer sentiment index in April edged up to 95.9 from 93 in March, according to the monthly Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan survey of consumers.

"Personal financial gains were expected by 37 percent of all consumers in the April survey, the highest proportion since April 2007," survey director Richard Curtin said in a statement.

"The improvement was due to both higher income expectations as well as more job opportunities, although the anticipated gains in incomes and jobs remained quite modest," he added.

The sub-index of current economic conditions, which reflects Americans' perceptions of their financial situation and whether they consider it a good time to buy big-ticket items like houses or cars, rose to 107 in April from 105 in the previous month.

The sub-index gauging consumer expectations for six months from now, which more closely projects the direction of consumer spending, edged up to 88.8 in April from 85.3 in the prior month.

The consumer sentiment index, released twice each month, one preliminary and the other final, averaged 64.2 during the latest recession from December 2007 to June 2009, and was at 89 in the five years leading up to the recession.