Consumer confidence improved slightly in Canada from May through August, according to a survey released today Harrris/Decima Inc.

During the same period, the University of Michigan Index, which measures consumer confidence in the United States, continued to fall.

Several of the five components that make up the overall consumer confidence index showed statistically significant shifts during the last few months, Harris/Decima said.

Pessimism about the economic outlook for the coming year dropped from 38% saying things would be worse to 32%. A smaller drop was recorded in pessimism about the five year outlook, from 46% to 43% expecting deterioration.

The number of people who say they expect their personal financial situation to deteriorate in the coming year also slid by 3 points, from 20% to 17%. The number of people who say they are worse off today than they were last year, held steady at 24%.

The one negative movement was recorded on the question of whether now is a good time or a bad time to make a major purchase. Those saying it is a “bad time” rose marginally from 41% to 42%.

Pessimism has not yet been replaced by growing optimism. “All five indicators showed no statistically significant gains in optimism, meaning growing fear in May has shifted into growing uncertainty in August,” Harris/Decima said in a release.

Last year at this time, Canadians living west of the province of Ontario, had a confidence level that was 10-points higher than their eastern counterparts. Today, east and west confidence levels are identical.

“With the recent decline in the price of oil, the prospect of lower gas prices may have reduced some of the price concerns of Canadian consumers. The influence of these price declines is reinforced by the uniformity of responses and consistent confidence levels across the country. This also explains why although optimism is not on the rise, pessimism is now declining,” stated Bill Chornous, vp and investment strategist at Investors Group.

Harris/Decima gather the consumer confidence data were from August 7 through 17, for a sample of just over 2,000 respondents.