U.S. consumers were feeling peppy in February, according to the Reuter’s/University of Michigan consumer sentiment index. Consumer sentiment in March was at 76.2, its highest level since early 2011, notes the survey of 500 households on their financial condition and outlook.

Unemployment claims for the week ending March 24 dropped by 5,000 to 359,000, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics on Thursday, the lowest that particular number has been since April 2008, back in the days of crummy growth, but before the full-fledged Great Recession.

Citing British and American sources, as well as France’s Energy Minister Eric Besson, media reports said on Wednesday that the three nations seemed poised to deal with fuel prices in the coming weeks by releasing strategic oil stocks.

The latest S&P/Case-Shiller 20-city composite index was down 0.8 percent, representing a declining three-month moving average for November 2011 to January 2012, according to the rating agency on Tuesday.

Bernanke said in a speech to the National Association for Business Economics spring conference that the U.S. economy might still need help to pick up the pace of job growth.

New home sales were down 1.6 percent in February to an annualized rate of 313,000 units, according to the U.S. Census Bureau on Friday.

During the week ending March 17, initial unemployment claims were 348,000, a decrease of 5,000 from the previous week’s revised figure of 353,000, and a four-year low, according to the U.S. Department of Labor on Thursday.

Existing home sales took an unexpected monthly dip in February, down 0.9 percent, according to the National Association of Realtors on Wednesday.