ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- Customer satisfaction with the goods and services that Americans buy reached an all-time high in the fourth quarter of 2006, according to a report released today by the University of Michigan's American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI).

The index climbed to 74.9 on the ACSI's 100-point scale, up 0.7 percent from the previous quarter, and rising almost 2 percent from the previous year. This is the highest score the index has recorded since its first measure in 1994 (74.8).

The latest ACSI data suggests that satisfied consumers will continue to prop up the economy, driving consumer spending growth of between 3.5 percent and 4.1 percent for the first quarter of 2007. "In view of these results, it is not surprising that the consumer continues to lift the economy despite the housing slump," Professor Claes Fornell, director of the University of Michigan's National Quality Research Center, which compiles and analyzes the ACSI data, said in a press release.

"The economy may not be coming in for a soft landing. With the confluence of a number of favorable economic factors, there may be no landing at all. Rising wages, little inflation, and falling unemployment combined with higher customer satisfaction and strong consumer confidence suggest the trend in spending growth will continue to drive economic growth," said Fornell.

Customer satisfaction with the retail sector, which includes department and discount stores, specialty retail stores, supermarkets, gas stations, and health and personal care stores, made a big jump, up 2.8 percent to reach 74.4 on the ACSI's 100-point scale.