NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - A closely watched measure of consumer confidence in the United States was slightly stronger in October than initially estimated, according to a published report Friday that edged Wall Street expectations.

The University of Michigan's revised consumer sentiment index for the month rose to 89.6 from 87.7 in September, according to market sources quoted by Reuters. October's number was initially reported at 89.4. Economists, on average, expected a reading of 89.5, according to Briefing.com.

October's reading was only slightly better than the August reading of 89.3. The index peaked in May, following a war-related slump in the spring, and has been rising and falling since.

The university's "current conditions" index, measuring consumers' feelings about the current state of the economy, rose to a revised 99.9 from 98.4 in September, Reuters said. The "expectations" index, looking into the future, rose to a revised 83 from 80.8, according to Reuters.

Initially, the current conditions index was reported as 102.2, and the expectations index was reported as 81.2.

U.S. stock market prices were mostly higher after the report. Treasury bond prices also rose.

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Wall Street pays close attention to consumer spending, which makes up more than two-thirds of the total economy.

Led by the strongest surge in consumer spending in about six years, third-quarter gross domestic product (GDP) growth posted its fastest growth pace in nearly 20 years.

But GDP growth likely will slow down again in the fourth quarter, and the labor market has shown few signs of full recovery. Some economists worry consumers will be reluctant to go on spending sprees if the job market doesn't show significant improvement.

Certainly, a lack of job growth has weighed on consumer sentiment, but consumers don't always spend the way they feel -- confidence hit rock-bottom immediately after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, but consumers still responded eagerly to sales incentives, most notably the zero-percent financing offered by automakers.