Consumer sentiment soured in October as a government shutdown threatens to weaken a wobbly economy beset by an uptick in inflation and a sharp slowdown of hiring, fresh data on Friday showed. The reading marked a decrease from the previous month but it came in higher than economists expected. Shopper attitudes have worsened for three consecutive months, resuming a decline that took hold after President Donald Trump took office, University of Michigan Survey data showed. At its low point this year, consumer sentiment fell close to its worst level since an acute bout of inflation three years ago. The measure remains well below where it stood in December, before Trump took office. Year-ahead inflation expectations ticked down from 4.7% in September to 4.6% in October, the data showed. The out

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