Consumer confidence in technology improved in August, according to the latest CEA Index released today by the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA). Confidence in the overall economy, however, dropped to its lowest level of the year.

Consumer's expectations for technology spending rose more than four points in August. The CEA Index of Consumer Technology Spending (ICTE) reached 84.4, an increase of 4.6 points. The ICTE, which measures consumer expectations about technology spending, is at its highest level since January and up 4.6 points from this time last year.

"Consumers continue to show interest in spending on technology despite an uncertain economic outlook," said Shawn DuBravac, CEA?s chief economist and director of research. "As consumers pull back spending in other categories, technology continues to benefit."

Consumer confidence in the overall economy dropped for the fourth straight month. The CEA Index of Consumer Expectations (ICE), which measures consumer sentiment about the broader economy, dropped 0.3 points to 158.8. That?s the lowest level since reaching an all-time low of 157.8 in August of 2010.

"Consumer sentiment continued to fall this month as unrest with the economic landscape and volatility in the financial markets grew," said DuBravac. "Interestingly, despite the instability on Wall Street, consumers are showing some optimism that things will improve over the next year."

The CEA Indexes comprise the ICE and ICTE, both of which are updated on a monthly basis through consumer surveys. New data is released on the fourth Tuesday of each month. CEA has been tracking index data since January 2007.