The consumer confidence index grew to 96.5 in December from a revised 92.6 last month, The Conference Board reported Tuesday.
The November index was originally reported as 90.4.
Economists polled by Thomson Reuters predicted a 92.9 reading for the index.
The present situation index climbed to 115.3 from a revised 110.9, first reported as 108.1, while the expectations index rose to 83.9 from a revised 80.4, first reported as 78.6.
"Consumer confidence improved in December, following a moderate decrease in November," said Lynn Franco, director of The Conference Board's economic indicators. "As 2015 draws to a close, consumers' assessment of the current state of the economy remains positive, particularly their assessment of the job market. Looking ahead to 2016, consumers are expecting little change in both business conditions and the labor market. Expectations regarding their financial outlook are mixed, but the optimists continue to outweigh the pessimists."
Business conditions were called "good" by 27.3% of respondents in December, up from 25.0% in November. Those saying conditions are "bad" grew to 19.8% from 16.9%.
The percentage of consumers expecting a pickup in business conditions in the next half year fell to 15.2% from 15.7%, while 11.0% said they expect conditions to worsen, up from 10.6% in the prior month.
On the jobs front, those who believe jobs are "plentiful" increased to 24.1% in December from 24.1% in November, while the number saying jobs are "hard to get" slid to 24.7% from 25.8%. The respondents who see fewer jobs becoming available in a half year, declined to 16.6% from 18.5%. Those expecting more jobs to become available gained to 12.9% from 12.0%, The Conference Board reported.
The consumer confidence survey is based on a probability design random sample by the Nielsen Company.
