By Kate Davidson

WASHINGTON--Americans' economic outlook improved significantly in December, though nearly all of the gain was among upper income households, according to a University of Michigan survey released Friday.

-The survey's headline index of consumer sentiment was 99.2 in early December, better than the 96.5 reading that economists surveyed by The Wall Street Journal expected. The index also was higher than the 96.8 reading in late November.

-The survey's index of current economic conditions -- based on respondents' views of theirs and other consumers' financial situation -- was 115.2 in early December, up from 111.6 in late November.

-Richard Curtin, the survey's chief economist, said that while the House impeachment inquiry has dominated news headlines, virtually no consumer spontaneously mentioned it in response to any survey question. "Nonetheless, the data indicate the strong impact of partisanship on economic expectations, which has widened in the past few months," Mr. Curtin said. Despite the divide between Democrats and Republicans, he said independents have very favorable expectations of the economy, "indicating the continuation of the expansion based on consumer spending."

Write to Kate Davidson at kate.davidson@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

December 06, 2019 10:28 ET (15:28 GMT)