It may be too soon to know whether the deal struck Thursday by President Bush and congressional leaders over a tax rebate for Americans will raise consumer spirits, but Gallup Daily interviewing conducted Tuesday through Thursday night finds no improvement in public perceptions about the economy over where it stood previously. In fact, while the percentage of Americans saying the economy is getting worse has leveled off at about 81% in the past week, negative perceptions of current economic conditions continue to inch upward.
The latest results, based on interviewing conducted January 22-24, show only 22% of Americans rating current economic conditions as "excellent" or "good," 45% calling it "only fair," and 33% calling it "poor."
As noted, 81% believe the national economy is worsening; 13% say it is getting better.
A week ago, Gallup Daily polling conducted Jan. 15-17 found 29% of Americans saying the economy was poor and 79% saying it was getting worse. Right after New Year's, the figures were 24% and 73%, respectively.
Over the next week or so, Gallup Daily polling will reveal the extent to which congressional action on taxes, any effort by President Bush to boost consumer spirits in his State of the Union address next week, and further changes in the stock market may impact consumer perceptions of the U.S. economy. -- Lydia Saad
Survey Methods
These results are based on telephone interviews with 1,478 national adults, aged 18 and older, conducted Jan. 22-24, 2008. For results based on this sample, one can say with 95% confidence that the maximum margin of sampling error is ±3 percentage points.
Trend results through Jan. 18-20 are based on rolling averages of three nights of telephone interviews with a combined sample of approximately 3,000 national adults 18 and older for each average. For results based on these three-night samples, the maximum margin of sampling error is ±2 percentage points.
In addition to sampling error, question wording and practical difficulties in conducting surveys can introduce error or bias into the findings of public opinion polls.