Consumer sentiment changed markedly during March, climbing to the highest level since November, led by cheerier views on current economic conditions, according to data released Friday.

The University of Michigan-Thomson Reuters consumer-sentiment gauge rose to a final March reading of 78.6 – the highest level since November.

“Consumers have discounted the administration’s warning that economic catastrophe would follow the reductions in federal spending, and consumers have renewed their expectation that gains in employment will accelerate,” said Richard Curtin, the survey’s director, according to a Reuters report.

— From wire reports