Though nearly two-thirds of American workers view the current economy as unhealthy, the percentage of employees who believe the economy will improve in 2013 has risen, according to new research from the Principal Financial Well-Being Index: American Workers. Forty-three percent of workers anticipate economic improvements next year, up from just 32 percent last quarter.

Despite their confidence in the state of the economy in 2013, more employees (42 percent, up from 32 percent last quarter) are stressed about the economy. But significantly fewer workers (36 percent) are stressed about their personal finances, down from 42 percent last quarter.

In the past two quarters of the survey, both business owners and employees have voiced concerns about the health of the economy, Luke Vandermillen, vice president of retirement and investor services for Principal Financial Group Inc., said in a release. “While it’s easy to feel paralyzed by this environment of uncertainty, Americans can alleviate some of their stress by setting concrete financial goals and putting a strategy in place to achieve them,” he said.

For the past two years, participants in the survey most frequently listed “not saving enough” as their top financial blunder of the year. For the first time since 2008, however, the top financial goal in this year’s survey was was “saving a set amount every month.”