PRINCETON, NJ -- While still a very pessimistic assessment of the economy's direction, the 81% of Americans who say the economy is getting worse is the least negative rating Gallup Poll Daily tracking has measured so far in March.
At least 8 in 10 Americans have said the economy is getting worse each day in March. At the start of the year, Americans were slightly less pessimistic, with 73% believing the economy was headed in the wrong direction.
The public continues to be more likely to rate the current health of the economy as "poor" (39%) rather than "excellent" or "good" (19%). -- Jeff Jones
Survey Methods
Gallup is interviewing no fewer than 1,000 U.S. adults nationwide each day during 2008. The economic questions analyzed in this report are asked of a random half-sample of respondents. The results reported here are based on combined data from 1,526 interviews conducted March 25-27, 2008. For results based on this sample, the maximum margin of sampling error is ±3 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.
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