Americans’ assessments of the United States economy have improved significantly in the last month, although they remain negative overall, according to a Gallup poll.
Gallup’s economic confidence index increased from -43 in May to -32 in June and is the highest since January 2022 (-26) according to the survey carried out by that institution in June, although it remains in the negative range.
Gallup’s Economic Confidence Index summarizes Americans’ assessments of current economic conditions and their assessment of whether the economy is getting better or worse.
The index has been mostly in negative territory for the past three years. It fell to -58, the worst since the Great Recession, amid inflation and rising gasoline prices in June 2022.
The new poll conducted June 1-22 came after President Joe Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy reached agreement on a bipartisan bill to raise the federal debt ceiling.
there was also some positive economic news in Juneas the job market remained strong and inflation continued to decline, prompting the Federal Reserve to halt its series of interest rate hikes.
Additionally, the stock market has shown steady gains in recent months, with the S&P 500 reaching bull market status in early June.
Analysis of the poll by Jeffrey M. Jones, a senior editor at Gallup, showed that Americans are more optimistic about the economy and the direction this important indicator is taking.
At the moment, 19% of Americans rate economic conditions as excellent or good and 44% as poor (37% describe them as “just fair”), scoring -25 on the current conditions component of the index.
The economic outlook component showed a more substantial improvement. Now 27% of Americans say the economy is improving vs. 66% who say it’s getting worse, for an outlook score of -39.
Both Republicans and independents posted double-digit increases in their Economic Confidence Index scores in June, with Republicans scoring up 14 points and independents up 13.
Democrats, who are much more positive about the overall economy, had a smaller score but still a noticeable 7-point improvement.
Republicans remain very pessimistic about the economy, with an index score of -65, while Independents are at -35 and Democrats are in positive territory at +5.
Overall, US adults continue to view the US economy negatively, but have seen enough signs of strength to raise Gallup’s Economic Confidence Index in 11 points this month.
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Source: La Opinion
