GALLUP NEWS SERVICE
PRINCETON, NJ -- According to a new Gallup poll, taken June 4-5, Americans are feeling more positive today about the state of the U.S. economy than they have in the eight years that Gallup's economic confidence measure has been tracked. Three-quarters of Americans, 74%, now say that economic conditions in the United States are "excellent" or "good," up five points from January of this year. The latest rise represents a continuation of the "good times" economic trends Gallup has seen since March of last year, when the percentage giving the economy high ratings reached 66%. In all Gallup polls prior to that, with one exception, less than half the public viewed the economy in positive terms.
Just as most Americans feel the economy is now doing well, they also express highly optimistic sentiments about their own finances. More than half the public, 57%, say that they are financially better off today than they were a year ago, and an even higher proportion, 67%, say they expect to be better off next year. By contrast, less than a quarter, 22%, say they are worse off this year compared to 1998, and only 17% think they will be worse off next year.
Personal Finances Score Maintained at High
Level
Gallup computes a personal finances confidence score for Americans;
the June 1999 score is 85 points, out of a possible high score of
200. The score is computed by adding the percentage who rate their
finances as "better" on each of the two personal finances questions
and subtracting the percentage who say "worse."
The current score of 85 is close to the highest score ever achieved on this measure, which was 97 points in March 1998. The lowest scores (ranging from -8 to -13) were recorded in 1979 and the early 1980s, during an economic recession that spanned Jimmy Carter's final year as president and the first half of Ronald Reagan's first term. Public perceptions of personal finances rebounded in the mid-1980s and the score reached 55 in 1984. In 1988, shortly before George Bush was elected to succeed Ronald Reagan, the score soared to 77. While high throughout most of Bush's presidency, personal financial confidence plummeted in January 1992 to 10. At the same time, public confidence in the economy was extremely low, with only 12% rating it excellent or good, and 87% considering it "only fair" or "poor."
These positive feelings about the economy and personal finances seem to be shared by most major groups in American society, including men and women, young and old, white and nonwhite. Even a majority of Americans living in households with relatively low incomes give the economy high marks and are optimistic about their finances, saying they expect to be financially better off next year.
SURVEY METHODS
The results below are based on telephone interviews with a randomly
selected national sample of 1,053 adults, 18 years and older,
conducted June 4-5, 1999. For results based on samples of this
size, one can say with 95 percent confidence that the error
attributable to sampling and other random effects could be plus or
minus 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.
How would you rate economic conditions in this country today -- as excellent, good, only fair, or poor?
| Excellent/ good |
Only fair/poor |
No opinion |
|
|---|---|---|---|
| Jun 4-5, 1999 | 74% | 26% | *% |
| Jan 15-17, 1999 | 69 | 31 | * |
| Dec 4-6, 1998 | 65 | 35 | * |
| Oct 29-Nov 1, 1998 | 66 | 33 | 1 |
| Sep 1, 1998 | 65 | 34 | 1 |
| Mar 20-22, 1998 | 66 | 34 | * |
| Dec 18-21, 1997 | 48 | 50 | 2 |
| Nov 6-9, 1997 | 58 | 42 | * |
| Aug 22-25, 1997 | 49 | 51 | * |
| May 6-7, 1997 | 46 | 53 | 1 |
| Jan 31-Feb 2, 1997 | 42 | 58 | * |
| Oct 26-29, 1996 | 47 | 52 | 1 |
| Aug 30-Sep 1, 1996 | 37 | 62 | 1 |
| Jul 18-21, 1996 | 43 | 57 | * |
| May 9-12, 1996 | 30 | 69 | 1 |
| Apr 9-10, 1996 | 27 | 72 | 1 |
| Mar 15-17, 1996 | 33 | 66 | 1 |
| Jan 5-7, 1996 | 29 | 70 | 1 |
| Nov 6-8, 1995 | 30 | 69 | 1 |
| May 11-14, 1995 | 29 | 70 | 1 |
| Dec 16-18, 1994 | 27 | 73 | * |
| Nov 2-6, 1994 | 30 | 69 | 1 |
| Oct 22-25, 1994 | 26 | 73 | 1 |
| Jul 15-17, 1994 | 27 | 73 | * |
| Apr 22-24, 1994 | 24 | 75 | 1 |
| Jan 15-17, 1994 | 22 | 78 | * |
| Dec 4-6, 1993 | 21 | 78 | 1 |
| Nov 2-4, 1993 | 17 | 83 | * |
| Aug 8-10, 1993 | 10 | 89 | 1 |
| Jun 29-30, 1993 | 10 | 89 | 1 |
| Feb 12-14, 1993 | 14 | 85 | 1 |
| Dec 18-20, 1992 | 1 | 81 | 18 |
| Dec 4-6, 1992 | 1 | 84 | 15 |
| Oct 23-25, 1992 | 1 | 88 | 11 |
| Sep 11-15, 1992 | 1 | 88 | 11 |
| Aug 31-Sep 2, 1992 | 10 | 90 | * |
| Jun 12-14, 1992 | 12 | 88 | * |
| Apr 9-12, 1992 | 12 | 88 | * |
| Jan 3-6, 1992 | 12 | 87 | 1 |
* Less than 0.5%
