Washington - Consumer confidence improved in the United States in August as a decline in the cost of petrol heartened consumers, a private survey released Tuesday said.

The New York-based Conference Board said its index of consumer confidence rose to 56.9 from 51.9 in July, as the US economy struggles to come out of a sharp slowdown stretching back to the last quarter of 2007.

"Consumer confidence readings suggest that the economy remains stuck in neutral, but may be showing signs of improvement by early next year," Lynn Franco, director of the Conference Board Consumer Research Center, said in a statement.

She noted that drops in the board's measure of how Americans view the current economic situation appeared to be moderating and that expectations of the economy in the future also improved.

The group's present situation index decreased to 63.2 from 65.8, but its measure of expectations increased to 52.8 from 42.7.

"The expectations index, which posted a significant gain this month, suggests better times may be ahead," Franco said. "However, overall readings are still quite low by historical standards and it is still too early to tell if the worst is behind us." (dpa)