Wellington, Feb 22 NZPA - New Zealanders are less gloomy about their financial situations than they were last year, a new poll suggests.

Research New Zealand polled 502 adults between February 5 and 15 by telephone.

The poll asked respondents to comment on their financial situation and compare it to the previous year.

Of respondents 39 percent said their situation was worse, but in the same poll in October the figure was higher at 45 percent.

Those who thought their situation "a lot worse" changed little, down one percentage point to 10 percent in the latest survey. Thirteen percent felt they were "somewhat better" off compared to 19 percent in October. More people felt there had been no change -- 32 percent compared to 18 percent.

The poll also found 71 percent of people believed the economy was impacting on their current situation, down from 81 percent in October.

The poll had a margin of error of 4.7 percent.

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