U.S. consumer confidence rises; COVID-19, unemployment shadow lingers

The survey from the University of Michigan on Friday is broadly in line with economists' expectations that the recovery from the recession would be a long slog."While uncertainty about the future is beginning to ease, it is still higher than it was at anytime during the Great Recession," said Joel Naroff, chief economist at Naroff Economics in Holland, Pennsylvania.The University of Michigan's consumer sentiment index increased to a reading of 78.9 from 72.3 in May. It said "few consumers antici