New York (CNN/Money) - Continuing its surge since the successful end to the war in Iraq, consumer confidence advanced last week to its best level in seven months.

The ABC News/Money magazine Consumer Comfort Index, based on ratings of current economic conditions, marked a new seven-month high at -15 for the week ended April 20, on a scale of positive 100 to negative 100.

Thirty percent of Americans rate the economy as excellent or good, up slightly from 29 percent the previous week. The poll's highest level of economic confidence, 80 percent, was set in late 1991 and early 1992.

Sixty percent of the respondents rate their own finances as excellent or good, up modestly from 59 percent in the preceding week. The best figure in this category was 70 percent, set in August 1998.

The survey's buying gauge, which measures consumers' willingness to spend, rose to 37 percent from 36 percent the week prior. The best figure in this category was 70 percent, set in August 1998.

Positive ratings of the national economy are up by nine points since the war began, while personal finances ratings are up six points and the buying climate is up four points. That rally has lifted confidence sharply from its nine-year low, set on March 23.

The advance outstrips the index's performance in the 1991 Persian Gulf War, when it gained nine points from January through March, mostly in the weeks immediately following the war's end. The gains, however, didn't last. Confidence peaked after the 1991 war, then lost ground later that year.

Confidence is higher among better-off Americans. The index is at +7 among people in higher-income households compared to -44 in the lowest.

The ABC News/Money magazine Consumer Comfort Index represents a rolling average based on telephone interviews with a random sample of about 1,000 adults nationwide each month. This week's results are based on 1,004 interviews in the month ended April 20, and have an error margin of plus or minus three percentage points.