Consumer sentiment falls, hinting at fallout from debt limit fight

American consumers’ attitudes are as negative as they have been all year, according to University of Michigan and Thomson Reuters data released Friday morning.

The consumer sentiment index, based on a poll of 500 U.S. households, slipped from 77.5 in September to 73.2 in October, missing analysts’ expectations. Friday’s reading is the first to incorporate the full effects of the damage done to Americans’ outlooks by the political struggle over funding the government and raising the debt ceiling.