Consumer confidence climbed last week to the highest level since April 2008, according to the Bloomberg Consumer Comfort Index.

The index stood minus 39.2 in the period ended Feb. 20, compared with a minus 43.4 reading the prior week. Forty-nine percent of those polled held positive views on their financial situation, the most in a year.

Readings of minus 40 have historically been the threshold indicating that Americans think a recovery from recession has begun, according to Gary Langer, president of Langer Research Associates LLC in New York, who said in a statement that the index’s gain is “a significant advance in its struggle to return to levels associated with economic growth.”

Langer said less unemployment, a growing economy and increases in stock prices are helping offset negative forces, including higher fuel costs and a troubled housing market.

Improving sentiment in households “may give consumers the shot in the arm they need to step up spending,” said Joseph Brusuelas, a senior economist at Bloomberg LP in New York, in an interview with Bloomberg.com. “Rising gasoline prices will impact the index with a lag. Consumers will be forced to adjust spending patterns.”