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Consumer confidence increased in March to a four-month high, according to the Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan consumer sentiment index released Friday.

The month’s final index rose to a reading of 78.6, from 77.6 in February.

Economists had forecast a reading of 72.6, following a preliminary mid-month reading of 71.8, Bloomberg News reported.

The index averaged 89 in the five years before the recession that began in December 2007.