Spherion Corp.'s (NYSE: SFN) employee confidence index rose to a reading of 49.9 in August, its highest level since December 2007. The reading is up 3.2 points from July.

The index's survey found that 24% of U.S. workers believed the economy was getting stronger in August, up eight percentage points from July. It also found slightly more workers, 40%, were confident in their ability to find a new job in August, compared with 39% in July.

"Although the general economic situation seems to be getting a little better, we're still not out of the woods yet," Spherion President and CEO Roy Krause said. "We are finding that many employers have cut so deep into their staff that they are having a difficult time maintaining operational levels -- which should indicate that additional hiring in on the horizon. However, it is still difficult to pinpoint an exact timeframe when we will begin to see a significant pick-up."

The index's survey questioned 2,464 employed adults in the U.S.