U.S. consumer sentiment rises to best since 2004

U.S. consumer sentiment rose in January to its highest level in 11 years on better job and wage prospects, a survey released on Friday showed. The Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan's final January reading on the overall index on consumer sentiment came in at 98.1, its best showing on a final basis since January 2004 and the latest in a string of increases since August. "Consumers judged prospects for the national economy as the best in a decade, with half of all consumers expectin