Consumer confidence has improved marginally in November, but has nevertheless clocked up the longest bout of pessimism since the global financial crisis, the latest Westpac Index shows.

And Westpac chief economist Bill Evans described prospects for Christmas as "disturbing", with 38 per cent indicating they will spend less on gifts.

Not so merry Christmas? Some 38 per cent of respondents plan to spend less, and 50 per cent want to spend the same on gifts as last year, the survey found.

The Westpac Melbourne Institute Index of Consumer Sentiment rose by 1.9 per cent in November, from 94.8 in October to 96.6 in November.

"This is an unsurprising but still disappointing result," Mr Evans said. "The index is 12.5 per cent below its level of a year ago and 3.6 per cent below its level before the lead-up to the Commonwealth budget in May.