by Daniel Costello

U.S. consumers felt cheerier in December, as the job market showed signs of improvement and retailers offered steep discounts to pump up holiday sales, a survey released on Friday showed.

Consumer sentiment improved markedly in early December, according to the University of Michigan/Reuters index, rising to 73.4 from 67.4 in November.

Earlier on Friday, the Commerce Department reported retail sales jumped a much higher-than-expected 1.3% in November.