U.S. Economic Confidence Index Holds at Seven-Month Low

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Gallup's U.S. Economic Confidence Index was essentially steady in June, averaging -8 for the month. This is statistically tied with May's -7 score, keeping the index at its lowest monthly reading since November.

Gallup's Economic Confidence Index has a theoretical high of +100 and a theoretical low of -100. It would reach +100 if all Americans said the economy is "excellent" or "good" and "getting better," and it would reach -100 if all Americans said the economy is "poor" and "getting worse."

The index had improved for six straight months in the latter half of 2014, culminating in a record monthly high of +3 in January. Since then, the index has lost momentum in each subsequent month through June. The weekly figures suggest confidence could be falling further. Confidence in the most recent week, ending July 5, averaged -11, the lowest weekly score Gallup has recorded since November.

Gallup's Economic Confidence Index is the average of two components: Americans' ratings of current economic conditions and whether they feel the economy is improving or getting worse.

The economic outlook component score was -11 in June, based on 42% of Americans saying the economy is getting better and 53% saying it is getting worse. This is similar to the -10 found in May, and is the lowest monthly economic outlook score in Gallup Daily tracking since October.

Meanwhile, the current conditions score in June was -4 -- the same as in May -- based on 25% of Americans saying the economy is "excellent" or "good" and 29% calling it "poor."

These data are available in Gallup Analytics.

Survey Methods

Results for this Gallup poll are based on telephone interviews conducted June 1-30, 2015, on the Gallup U.S. Daily survey, with a random sample of 14,683 adults, aged 18 and older, living in all 50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia. For results based on the total sample of national adults, the margin of sampling error is ±1 percentage point at the 95% confidence level. All reported margins of sampling error include computed design effects for weighting.

Each sample of national adults includes a minimum quota of 50% cellphone respondents and 50% landline respondents, with additional minimum quotas by time zone within region. Landline and cellular telephone numbers are selected using random-digit-dial methods.

Learn more about how Gallup Daily tracking works.