NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - Ratings of current economic conditions regained some strength last week, but looking ahead, economic pessimists still outnumber optimists by more than 2-to-1, a study said on Tuesday.

The ABC News/Money magazine Consumer Confidence Index, comprised of views on the national economy, personal finance and buying climate, rose 2 points to -21 on a basis of positive 100 to negative 100 for the week ended Feb. 9, 2003. The index had fallen to -27 in the week of Jan. 19, one of the largest one-week drops in its 17-year history.

Measured separately, twenty-eight percent of Americans rated the economy in a positive light last week, the same as the week before. The best figure in this category was 80 percent, set on Jan. 16, 2000.

Views on the buying climate rose 3 percentage points, as 35 percent of those polled said now is a good time to buy things they want or need. The best level was 57 percent and occurred on Jan. 16, 2000, and the lowest level was 20 percent in the fall of 1990.

Fifty-six percent of those polled said their personal finances are in good or excellent shape, 1 percentage point higher than the week ended Feb. 9, 2003. The best figure was reported on Aug. 30, 1998, with 70 percent, and only 42 percent thought so in March of 1993.

Looking ahead, forty-four percent of Americans still think the economy is getting worse, while only 20 percent surveyed said it's getting better. This number is about the same as it was in mid-January.

The ABC News/Money magazine Consumer Confidence index represents a rolling average based on telephone interviews with about 1,000 adults nationwide each month. The latest week's results are based on 1,003 interviews in the month ended Feb. 16 and have a margin of error of plus or minus three percentage points.