Consumer optimism rose again in January, the Conference Board of Canada reported today.

The not-for-profit research organization said its index of consumer confidence edged up by 3.1 points.

“Retailers should be happy to hear that consumers are increasingly ready to make major purchases,” said Alicia Coughlin, economist, in a news release. “Consumers were quite optimistic about their current and future financial situation, and expressed more optimism about future job conditions.”

The January index came in at 101.1. Beginning with the January 2007 survey, the Conference Board has recalculated the index. The year 2002 will now be used as the base year for consumer confidence instead of 1991 (therefore, 2002=100). Using the 2002 base year, the December 2006 index was 98.0 (instead of 120.5 using the 1991 base year as previously published).

The Conference Board said it chose 2002 as the base year for consumer confidence because economic conditions in most regions of the country were relatively even that year.

This recalculation means that the numbers in the new data series are not directly comparable to the levels of consumer confidence previously published. The Conference Board has updated the historical data on its consumer confidence survey, so that all confidence levels recorded since 1960 now use the 2002 base year. Regional confidence levels have also been recalculated to the 2002 base year.

In the January 2007 survey, optimism in Central Canada increased for the second consecutive month. Ontario’s 5.5 point-gain pushed its index above 100 (using the 2002 base year) for the first time in three years. Confidence in Quebec also increased by 2.4 points in January, but as a result of the reclassified base year, the province’s index stands at 90.9.

The index in Atlantic Canada gained 4.6 points, bringing its updated level to 99.5. The Prairies gained 2.4 points in January to a recalculated level of 106.1. Confidence in British Columbia dropped 3.4 points, but remains strong at 114.3.

The survey of consumer confidence was conducted between January 11 and January 17.