Economic confidence among employees with jobs close to the consumer improved in April for the sixth month in a row, but pessimists still outnumber optimists, according to a government survey released Tuesday.

The Economy Watchers Survey, which uses an index to gauge economic confidence in the state of the economy among taxi drivers, retail clerks, restaurant employees and others, found that confidence rose to 46.7 in April from 43.9 in March, the sixth consecutive month of improvement, the Cabinet Office said.

However, April also marked the 21st month in a row that the index has come in below 50, which means the respondents generally believe the state of the economy has not changed compared with the previous three months.