NEW YORK, April 30 (Reuters) - U.S. consumer sentiment fell in April from the month before, but beat expectations, as consumers viewed the economic recovery as well under way but painfully slow. At 72.2, the Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan's Surveys of Consumers' final April reading on the overall index on consumer sentiments also was above the preliminary reading of 69.5 for the month, which was the lowest in five months.
Analysts polled by Reuters had predicted a sentiment reading of 71 for April. The reading was 73.6 in March.
"Confidence in the economic policies and legislation promoted by the Obama administration remained at low levels, although confidence did record a small rebound in late April," Richard Curtin, director of the surveys, said in a statement.
Consumer sentiment is seen as a proxy for consumer spending that fuels 70 percent of the U.S. economy.
The surveys' gauge of current economic conditions slipped to 81.0 at the end of April from 82.4 in March. That reading was below 82.0 forecast by analysts, but above 80.7 recorded in early April.
The barometer of consumer expectations also declined in April. It came in at 66.5 in April versus 67.9 in March. It was also short of the 67 level predicted by analysts.
When consumers were asked to identify news of recent economic developments, one in five said they had heard negative information about government programs, twice as high as a year ago.
Forty percent rated policies unfavorably, which is still well above a low of 22 percent last May, according to the statement.
The index of consumers' 12-month economic outlook rose to 80 from 78 in March.
Also, the survey's 1-year inflation expectation index rose to 2.9 in April from 2.7 percent in March, while the five-to-10-year inflation measure held steady at 2.7 in April. (Reporting by Caroline Valetkevitch; Editing by Theodore d'Afflisio)
