PRINCETON, NJ -- The percent of Americans perceiving that the U.S. economy is getting worse is now 88%, the highest so far this year (by one percentage point). Americans' assessments of the current economy in the Gallup Poll Daily tracking are also gloomy, with 43% rating current conditions as "poor", and only 15% saying that they are excellent or good.
Gallup's combined metric based on these two economic ratings -- current conditions and the assessment of whether the economy is getting better or worse -- remains at 80% negative, tied for the worst rating this year. Thirteen percent of Americans can be classified as having "mixed" economic outlook, while 6% are positive. -- Frank Newport
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 1,499 interviews conducted May 9-11, 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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