U.S. consumer sentiment jumps ahead of elections, U.S. consumer sentiment unexpectedly rose to its highest in five years in October in the latest in a string of encouraging signs from the economy that may boost President Barack Obama's re-election hopes next month.

The Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan's preliminary October reading on the overall index on consumer sentiment came in at 83.1, up from 78.3 the month before, and the highest since September 2007, the survey showed on Friday.

The new buoyancy among consumers comes shortly after the U.S. unemployment rate tumbled to its lowest in nearly four years in September as more people returned to the workforce and found jobs than economists had predicted.

"We are getting some quite interesting signals from consumer sentiment and employment data - both (the) unemployment rate and initial claims - that there has been some quite significant improvement in the economy," said David Sloan, an economist at 4Cast in New York.

Economic issues have been a battleground in the election campaign as Obama seeks to burnish his credentials as a competent manager of the economy while Republican challenger Mitt Romney has faulted Obama's record on job creation and growth. Friday's sentiment report was the last before the November 6 general election and will be welcomed by Democrats.

"That kind of boost in consumer sentiment benefits an incumbent without question," said Julia Clark, a pollster with Ipsos in Washington. "The challenge that the Republicans have is continuing to attack the government's credibility on this issue while we actually are seeing data that suggest that consumer sentiment is improving."