Bucking a national trend, L.A. workers were more confident in December, according to a survey released Wednesday.

The monthly worker confidence index from Hudson, a Chicago-based recruiting firm, showed an increase among L.A. area workers of 2.8 points to 91.2 in December from November levels. However, that’s 12.7 points below the December 2006 level of 103.9. A reading above 100 is generally considered a positive outlook, while below 100 is a pessimistic outlook.

Nationally, the index fell 4.6 points to 87.3 in December as nearly half of workers surveyed felt their bosses are expecting the economy to worsen this year.

In L.A., however, 28 percent of workers said they thought their employers planned to hire in the coming months, compared to 25 percent in November. Also, despite the prospect of mortgage rates resetting and rising gas prices, there was a two-point increase to 15 percent in the number of workers who rated their finances as “excellent.”

L.A.’s 91.2 reading is in the middle of the pack for major metropolitan areas around the U.S. The highest reading was Dallas-Fort Worth at 109.4, while the lowest was San Francisco at 74.2.