The key index of consumer confidence in Tokyo rose 1.7 points in April from the previous month to 40.5, up for the first time in two months, the government said Friday.

The Cabinet Office's Economic and Social Research Institute said the index rose because four of its five component factors posted increases from March.

The factors that improved were living conditions, up 2.7 points to 42.4; income growth, rising 2.8 points to 41.9; prices, up 0.3 point to 43.4; and employment, which climbed 2.8 points to 31.5.

The factor that fell was sentiment on whether it is a good time to buy durable goods, which was down 0.2 point to 43.2.

The institute assigns varying points to the degree of confidence among respondents by asking how much they expect economic conditions in the five components to improve or worsen in the next six months.

The survey asks whether conditions will "improve," "improve somewhat," "remain unchanged," "deteriorate somewhat" or "deteriorate."

The institute assigns 1 point to "improve," 0.75 point to "improve somewhat," 0.5 point to "remain unchanged," 0.25 point to "deteriorate somewhat" and zero to "deteriorate" before collating the results and compiling the index.

An index reading below 50 means more consumers are pessimistic than optimistic.

The indexes were tallied on the basis of a survey of 435 households in Tokyo, of which all responded. The survey was conducted April 15.