Consumers show faith; SURVEY: Public feel better about the economy.

Byline: Jon Griffin

CONSUMER confidence recorded its third monthly rise in April to reach its highest level in a year, according to a survey released today.

The monthly snapshot by pollsters GfK NOP found public opinion in the UK in a more positive mood than at any time since April 2008.

The Confidence Index moved up three points to -27, ten points up since January and 12 points above the survey's lowest ever level of -39 last July.

The findings will be greeted by Prime Minister Gordon Brown as a welcome indicator that the fiscal stimulus injected into the economy last autumn is beginning to have an impact.

But the poll was taken too early to reflect reaction to last week's Budget, which downgraded growth predictions for 2009 to -3.5 per cent and revealed the Government will borrow pounds 175 billion this year.

Despite the improvement in the index, carried out on behalf of the European Commission, confidence remained low by historic standards, with more voters gloomy than optimistic about their prospects..

But the public's view of the overall state of the economy brightened somewhat from -31 to -15 over the past month. And voters' rating of the state of their own personal finances rose from -6 to -3.

"Significantly, this is now the third consecutive month that we have seen a rise in the index - suggesting a definite upward trend - and it's largely driven by the public's perception that the next twelve months will be better for both our own personal finances and particularly for the economy in general," said Rachael Joy from GfK NOP..