OTTAWA - The Conference Board's consumer confidence index rose 3.7 percentage points in December after two straight months of decline.
The index hit 82.8 this month on a scale where the 2002 level equals 100.
"These results indicate that Canadians still have mixed views on the strength of the economic recovery," said Pedro Antunes, the board's director for national and provincial forecasts. "Results were mixed depending on the region of the country and on the question asked.
"Optimism about current finances and employment in the near future increased, but sentiment deteriorated on the outlook for future finances and whether it's a good time to make a major purchase."
The December increase puts the index 26.2 points higher than it was in January 2009.
Until its consecutive declines in October and November, the index had risen for seven straight months.
The survey of 2,000 Canadians was conducted from Dec. 3 to Dec. 13, and has a margin of error of plus or minus 2.2 per cent, 19 times out of 20.
Atlantic Canada showed the highest gain in confidence, with the regional index up 10.8 percentage points.
Confidence was also up in Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta, while indexes in British Columbia and Quebec fell marginally.
The most upbeat responses were on jobs. The survey found that a quarter of respondents expected more jobs in their communities within six months.
The board said this meshes with its December help-wanted index, which saw a fourth consecutive monthly rise in jobs posted online.
