Americans became more upbeat about the U.S. economy in November, but they were still less confident than they were in the months before the federal government shutdown, according to a Gallup poll released Tuesday.

Gallup's Economic Confidence Index rose to -25 in November, an improvement from -35 in October but still below the -19 registered in September. November is the first month that the index has improved since May, when it peaked at -7.

The November results were based on telephone interviews, conducted Nov. 1-30 with a random sample of more than 14,000 U.S. adults.

The Economic Confidence Index is based on two components: Americans' assessments of current economic conditions in the U.S. and their perceptions of whether the economy is getting better or worse. The outlook component, which took the greater hit during the shutdown, improved more than the current conditions component last month.

The net economic outlook score last month improved significantly to -27 from -40 in October, but was still nine points lower than the September figure.

The net current conditions score rose to -23 in November from - 30 in October, and was four points lower than in September.

"The October government shutdown profoundly affected Americans' economic confidence, and even more than a month after it ended, their confidence has not yet fully recovered," the poll said.

"Still, the index's November improvement of 10 points shows that Americans' confidence is more resilient now than it was after the 2011 debt crisis and the 2008-2009 economic recession. While U. S. stock prices plummeted after those events, they set record highs in November, which may have boosted consumer confidence," it added.