ANN ARBOR, Mich., March 14 (UPI) -- Consumer sentiment fell unexpectedly in early March as an unusually harsh winter seemed to dull people's outlook on the economy's health.
The index reading was 79.9, down from 81.6 in February and 82.5 in December, according to the Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan preliminary index of sentiment. The median estimate made by economists surveyed by Bloomberg expected to see a slight uptick in confidence to 82.