Led by rising investment confidence and expectations for the future, the most recent results of the RBC consumer attitudes and spending by household index show a sharp upswing in consumer sentiment for August 2009, reversing the slide of the previous two months.

The RBC CASH index for August stands at 37.5, a 15.1-point increase from July’s 22.4 reading. Although consumer sentiment remains volatile, the index saw improvement in all four of its subindices, which measure consumers’ views of current conditions, their expectations for the future and their confidence in investing and job security.

“The RBC index for August showed a strong bounce in overall confidence but, as the relatively low readings in the subindices show, the economic recovery continues to face a number of headwinds, particularly in the job market,” said RBC Capital Markets’ U.S. economist Tom Porcelli. “On that front, the RBC jobs index remains at a relatively low level and suggests a continued difficult labor backdrop to any recovery.”

The RBC 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 subindices: RBC current conditions index; RBC expectations index; RBC investment index; and RBC jobs index.

The RBC CASH 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 July 30-Aug. 3 by survey-based research company Ipsos Public Affairs. The margin of error was +/-3.1%.