By Dean Calbreath

Consumers' financial security rose for the second month in a row in January, but many - led by low-income workers and retirees - say they feel less confident than a year ago, according to a survey released today by Bankrate.com, a Web-based financial information provider.

Even though feelings about job security, savings, debt, net worth and overall financial security improved over the past month, "there is ample room for improvement," said Greg McBride, Bankrate’s senior financial analyst.

The biggest drawback: more than 40 percent of respondents feel their savings position has eroded over the past year, compared to just 14 percent who feel it has improved.

Not unsurprisingly, the biggest concerns about savings come from low-income workers, retirees and the unemployed. College graduates, young people and households with incomes above $75,000 tend to be relatively secure about their savings.

Here's how the mood looks, according to the Bankrate poll, conducted by Princeton Survey Research Associates:

• Job security. For the first time since May, more Americans felt more secure in their jobs than a year ago, with 20 percent feeling more secure and 17 percent feeling less secure.
• Debt. Respondents were equally divided over whether their debt situation has gotten better or worse than last year, with 23 percent saying they feel more comfortable and 23 percent feeling less comfortable. It was the first time since June that the number did not skew towards "less comfortable."
• Financial situation. Despite the improvements in job security and debt, 28 percent feel their financial situation is worse than a year ago, compared to 23 percent who say it is better. But the gap between the those two numbers has been narrowing since October. It is now close to the survey's 3.9 percentage point margin of error.