"The survey, which measured the attitudes of 1,000 consumers earlier this week, found respondents more positive about their future economic prospects, but still worried about job security," the bank reported.

The RBC Consumer Attitudes and Spending by Household Index (CASH) survey rose 10 points in May to 39, up from its previous all-time low of 29.5 in April.

"Consumers are beginning to look beyond the current economic downturn, as evidenced by the increase in their expectations for the future," said T.J. Marta, economic and fixed income strategist for RBC Capital Markets. "The fact that Americans' perception of the jobs environment weakened is not inconsistent with the rebound in the overall index, as the job market tends to lag the economic cycle."

The CASH Index is a monthly national survey of consumer attitudes on the current and future state of local economies, personal finance situations, savings, and confidence to make large investments. The Index is composed of four sub-indexes: RBC Current Conditions Index; RBC Expectations Index; RBC Investment Index; and RBC Jobs Index.

The expectations component increased more than 24 points in May, but remains in negative territory for a fifth straight month at -24.1. RBC reported 32% of Americans believe their local economy will be weaker in the near future, down from 38% last month.

Improving attitudes toward personal finances helped the Current Conditions Index to a slight increase at 57.4, compared to the 54.6 posted last month. Some 30% of consumers rated their personal finances as strong, compared to 25% in April.

Views of the current state of their local economy remained statistically unchanged in May, with 15% of consumers again rating their local economy as strong and 42% giving a weak rating.

However, the jobs picture remained gloomy in May. The RBC jobs index hit its lowest point - 93.7 - since its inception in 2002. One in four Americans reported a job loss is likely in the next six months, up 20% from April. Consumer confidence in job security also dipped to 27% from 28% the prior month.

The Index is benchmarked to a baseline of 100, assigned at its introduction in January 2002. This month's findings are based on a representative nationwide sample of 1,000 U.S. adults polled from May 5-7, 2008, by survey-based research company Ipsos Public Affairs. The margin of error was +/-3.1%.

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