Confidence among U.S. consumers rose to its highest level in five months as Americans brushed off concerns about inflation and the spread of Omicron, though both factors loom large as headwinds for sentiment going forward. The Conference Board’s consumer confidence index rose in December to a reading of 115.8, its highest level since July. That’s up from an upwardly revised 111.9 in November, when concerns about prices rising at their highest level in decades were the chief factor driving down sentiment. “Concerns about inflation declined after hitting a 13-year high last month as did concerns about COVID-19, despite reports of continued price increases and the emergence of the Omicron variant,” Lynn Franco, Senior Director of Economic Indicators at The Conference Board, said in a statement. Consumer price inflation hit 6.8 percent in the year through November, a 31-year high. Rising prices have become a key worry among U.S. consumers, more so than unemployment, …