PRINCETON, NJ -- By two measures, ratings of the economy are as bad as they have been all year. Eighty-seven percent of Americans say the economy is getting worse, matching a high achieved several times this year in Gallup Poll Daily tracking. The 43% who rate current conditions as "poor" is not the worst for the year, it is four percentage points lower than the 47% recorded in April 21-23 polling.
The second measure that is the worst of 2008 is Gallup's combined metric of the two economic ratings -- current conditions and the assessment of whether the economy is getting better or worse. In the latest polling, 80% of Americans hold economic attitudes which can be considered negative -- they rate current conditions as "only fair" or "poor" and say they are getting worse or staying the same. That matches Saturday's level as the most negative rating this year -- Jeff Jones
Survey Methods
For the Gallup Poll Daily tracking survey, 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 1,494 interviews conducted May 8-10, 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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