U.S. Economic Confidence Improved in July

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Americans' confidence in the U.S. economy improved in July, with Gallup's Economic Confidence Index rising seven points to +29. The latest index is the highest Gallup has measured since February.

Americans' confidence in the economy may have received a boost from a strong June jobs report delivered by the U.S. Department of Labor midway through Gallup's polling period of July 1-12. Additionally, the month of June saw massive gains in the U.S. stock market, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average, the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite all reaching new highs in early July. The Dow cracked the 27,000 mark for the first time in history just before the end of Gallup's polling period.

The latest Economic Confidence Index score is just below the +30 mark -- which the index regularly met or surpassed in the latter half of 2018, but before that had not reached since the end of the dot-com boom in the early 2000s.

Gallup's Economic Confidence Index is the average of two components: Americans' ratings of current economic conditions and their views on whether the economy is getting better or getting worse. The index has a theoretical maximum of +100, if all Americans believe the economy is excellent or good and getting better. The theoretical minimum is -100, achieved if all Americans say the economy is poor and getting worse.

Americans More Optimistic About Economic Direction

The index's increase this month is mostly due to more Americans saying the economy is getting better than did so in June. A majority, 54%, now perceive the economy is improving, up from 49% last month. Conversely, there has been an eight-percentage-point decline, from 45% to 37%, in the percentage saying it is getting worse.

Meanwhile, public perceptions of current economic conditions have been steady, with 53% rating them "excellent" or "good," about a third calling them "only fair" and 12% describing them as "poor."

In addition to majorities of Americans rating U.S. economic conditions and their trajectory positively, 67% say it is a good time to find a quality job -- just below the record-high 71% from May.

But those positive economic feelings are not translating into high levels of satisfaction with the country's current state or approval of U.S. political leaders. Just 36% of Americans are satisfied with the way things are going in the U.S., 44% approve of the way Donald Trump is handling his job as president and 17% approve of the way Congress is doing its job.

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