New York ? Consumer confidence bounced back in August from a dip the previous month, a private research group said Tuesday.

The New-York-based Conference Board said its Consumer Confidence Index rose to 81.3 in August, up 4.3 points from a revised 77.0 in July. Analysts had expected a reading of 79.6 for August.

Consumers showed growing optimism about the economy during the next six months, though their assessment of current conditions again deteriorated slightly. The Conference Board’s expectations index rose to 94.4 in August from 86.3 in July, while the present situation index declined to 61.6 from 63.0.

“The welcome bounce back in confidence this month was entirely due to consumers’ optimism about the future,” said Lynn Franco, director of the group’s consumer research center. “However, continued optimism will depend on positive developments in the labor market.”

For the August survey, consumers offered a lackluster appraisal of current business conditions. The survey found 30.9 percent rated present conditions as “bad,” up from 30.2 percent last month, while those holding the opposite view declined to 15.9 percent, from 16.5 percent.

Those anticipating that business conditions will improve during the next six months rose to 22.5 percent from 20.0 percent.

Consumers expecting conditions to deteriorate fell to 10.7 percent from 11.4 percent.

Those reporting that jobs are “hard to get” rose to 34.1 percent from 32.7 percent in July.

Consumers claiming jobs are “plentiful,” however, rose to 11.1 percent, up from 10.7 percent.