The think-tank's confidence index this month was up 2.7 points from February as slightly fewer respondents reported being worried about their jobs, while 34.7 per cent – up 4.6 percentage points – said that now is a good time to make a major purchase.

But at 71.5, the index remains well below the 100 level that was common little more than a year ago, and job insecurity continues to be high.

Ontarians, battered by the manufacturing slump, were the most pessimistic with an index of 66.3, while B.C. residents continued to be the most optimistic at 82.6.

Only 20.5 per cent of the 2,000 respondents in the March 5-13 poll expected their financial situation to improve in the next six months, a decline of 1.5 points. Most said their situation was unchanged from six months ago.

"It appears that most people feel unaffected by the ongoing Canadian recession and believe they will continue to be unaffected going forward," the Conference Board said.

There was a slight improvement on the jobs question, with the proportion expecting fewer jobs six months from now falling by 3.7 percentage points. But 50.8 per cent still predicted the job situation will deteriorate.

And the think-tank noted the poll was conducted before Statistics Canada revealed 83,000 jobs vanished in February.