65% of Americans Say Economy Is Poor, Only 30% Expect Improvement

More than two-thirds of Americans think the economy is in poor condition and nearly half think it will get worse over the next year, according to polling results released Monday.

After holding steady but consistently negative throughout the spring and summer, the public’s opinion of the U.S. economy suffered a dramatic downturn last month, a poll from the AP-NORC Center for Public Affairs showed. Earlier, 54 percent said the economy was poor and 45 percent said it was good. In October, the share saying poor jumped to 65 percent.

Both Democrats and Republicans turned sharply to the negative. Fifty-five percent of Democrats think the economy is doing well, down from 63 percent in September. And while Republicans have held a negative view of the national economy since President Biden was inaugurated, in the latest poll, only 15 percent describe the economy as good, half the September number.

Forty-seven percent of Americans expect the national economy to worsen over the next year, with just 30 percent expecting improvement. Just ten percent of Republicans expect improvement. Even among Democrats, only 51 percent expect improvement.

Despite these grim views of the economy, 65 percent of Americans say their household is in good condition.  But optimism is fading and worry is creeping up. The share of Americans who think their personal financial situation will get worse over the next year increased to 24 percent from 13 percent in February of this year. And only 33 percent think that their finances will improve, down from 40 percent in February.

The news of the labor shortage has helped Americans become more confident about their prospects for finding employment. Thirty six percent now say they are confident they would be able to find a job, up from 25 percent in February 2020.

The nationwide poll was conducted October 21-25, 2021 with 1,083 adults.

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