Consumer confidence across Japan improved in August for the second straight month, spurred by improving employment conditions, the government said Thursday.

The index of confidence among households with two or more people came to 48.4, up 0.3 point from July, the Cabinet Office said in a survey.

The index of employment conditions rose 0.7 point to 50.4, piercing the key threshold of 50 for the first time since August 2004, it said.

A reading below 50 indicates that pessimists outnumber optimists. Consumer spending accounts for more than half of Japan's gross domestic product.

The index of wage increases was up 0.2 point at 45.9, while that of living conditions was flat at 46.9, it said.

The Cabinet left its assessment of consumer confidence unchanged in August for the third consecutive month.