Customer satisfaction with retail, financial services increased in 2006

Customer satisfaction with businesses in the retail and financial services sectors increased in the fourth quarter of 2006, according to a report by the University of Michigan�s American Customer Satisfaction Index. On a 100-point scale, the index rose nearly 2 percent to 74.9, its highest mark since its first measure in 1994.

The index is viewed as a consumer spending indicator.

�I think consumer spending will remain strong as long as foreign investors will finance it. I�m talking particularly about China,� said professor Claes Fornell, director of the U-M�s National Quality Research Center, which compiles and analyzes the ACSI data. �And as long as there are no major shocks to the system.�