Economy, Terrorism Continue to Top List of Most Important Problems

GALLUP NEWS SERVICE

PRINCETON, NJ -- A new Gallup Poll shows little change in two basic measures of public concern about the state of the nation. Terrorism and the economy remain the two issues weighing most heavily on Americans' minds, and these continue to dwarf all other issues as the most important problems facing the United States. Also, when asked about their satisfaction with the direction the nation is taking, equal percentages are satisfied (48%) and dissatisfied (48%).

The poll, conducted Nov. 11-14, shows that 37% of Americans name some economic issue as the top problem facing the nation. The percentage of Americans citing the economy has hovered between 35% and 40% since July.

Forty percent of Americans mention terrorism (19%), fear of war (14%), or national security (7%) as the most important problem. This is down slightly from October, when 51% mentioned these issues, but higher than the percentage observed in late July through September polling.

Most Important Problem
Facing This Country Today
2002

Men are more likely to mention the economy than are women (42% compared with 33%), while women are more likely to mention terror-related issues (47% compared with 34%). Democrats are more likely to mention the economy than are Republicans (by 44% to 35%), while Republicans are only slightly more likely to cite terrorism (by 44% to 38%).

Other issues mentioned by substantial proportions of Americans include healthcare (7%), ethical or moral decline (7%), education (6%), and international issues (6%).

Satisfaction Remains Stable

Gallup's satisfaction measure has been roughly equally divided between "satisfied" and "dissatisfied" for several months now. The percentage satisfied has hardly budged since July, staying between 47% and 49% in eight separate polls. The percentage dissatisfied has shown just slightly more variation in that time, ranging between 47% and 51%.

Satisfaction With the Way Things Are Going
in the United States
2002

The satisfaction measure is low compared to earlier this year -- as recently as April, 61% of Americans said they were satisfied with the way things were going in the United States. However, it remains slightly above where it was just prior to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks (43%) and higher than it was during 1992-1996. And, satisfaction today looks much better when compared to other sluggish economic times, such as 1992 (when it fell as low as 14% satisfied), 1982 (24%), and 1979 (12%).

Republicans are currently twice as likely to express satisfaction with the nation's course as are Democrats, 67% to 32%. Despite the outcome of the midterm elections, which gave Republicans control of the legislative and executive branches of government, the current levels of satisfaction among Republican and Democratic identifiers are essentially the same as those found in Gallup's final pre-election poll, 73% and 32%, respectively.

The poll also updates President Bush's approval rating, showing 66% approving and 26% disapproving of his performance as president.

Survey Methods

These results are based on telephone interviews with a randomly selected national sample of 1,001 adults, 18 years and older, conducted Nov. 11-14, 2002. For results based on this sample, one can say with 95 percent confidence that the maximum error attributable to sampling and other random effects is 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.

In general, are you satisfied or dissatisfied with the way things are going in the United States at this time?

	Satisfied	Dissatisfied	No opinion
	%	%	%
2002
2002 Nov 11-14	48	48	4

2002 Oct 31-Nov 3	48	47	5
2002 Oct 3-6	47	49	4
2002 Sep 5-8	47	51	2
2002 Aug 5-8	47	50	3
2002 Jul 26-28	48	49	3
2002 Jul 22-24	49	47	4
2002 Jul 9-11	49	48	3
2002 Jun 3-6	52	44	4
2002 May 6-9	56	40	4
2002 Apr 8-11	61	37	2
2002 Mar 4-7	61	37	2
2002 Feb 4-6	61	37	2
2002 Jan 7-9	65	32	3
2001
2001 Dec 6-9	70	28	2
2001 Nov 8-11	65	33	2
2001 Oct 11-14	67	29	4
2001 Sep 14-15	61	36	3
2001 Sep 7-10	43	55	2
2001 Aug 16-19	48	49	3
2001 Jul 19-22	51	46	3
2001 Jun 11-17	51	46	3
2001 May 10-14	46	50	4
2001 Apr 6-8	50	47	3
2001 Mar 5-7	53	44	3
2001 Feb 1-4	51	45	4
2001 Jan 10-14	56	41	3
2000
2000 Dec 2-4	51	46	3
2000 Nov 13-15	58	41	1
2000 Oct 6-9	62	36	2
2000 Aug 29-Sep 5	59	38	3
2000 Aug 18-19	63	33	4
2000 Jul 14-16	61	35	4
2000 Jun 22-25	56	39	5
2000 May 18-21	55	42	3
2000 Apr 3-9	59	37	4
2000 Feb 25-27	65	32	3
2000 Jan 7-10	69	28	3
	Satisfied	Dissatisfied	No opinion
1999
1999 Sep 23-26	52	45	3
1999 Aug 24-26	62	35	3
1999 Jun 11-13	55	42	3
1999 May 23-24	51	46	3
1999 Apr 26-27	51	45	4
1999 Apr 13-14	58	39	3
1999 Feb 12-13	71	26	3
1999 Jan 15-17	70	28	2
1998
1998 Dec 28-29	50	48	2
1998 Oct 29-Nov 1	60	34	6
1998 Aug 21-23	63	34	3
1998 Aug 10-12	60	36	4
1998 May 8-10	59	36	5
1998 Apr 17-19	58	38	4
1998 Feb 20-22	64	32	4
1998 Feb 13-15	59	37	4
1998 Jan 30-Feb 1	63	35	2
1997
1997 Dec 18-21	50	46	4
1997 Aug 22-25	50	48	2
1997 May 6-7	46	51	3
1997 Jan 10-13	50	47	3
1996
1996 Dec 9-11	43	55	2
1996 Nov 21-24	47	47	6
1996 Oct 26-29	39	56	5
1996 Aug 30-Sep 1	45	50	5
1996 Aug 16-18	38	57	5
1996 May 9-12	37	60	3
1996 Mar 15-17	36	61	3
1996 Mar 8-10	41	56	3
1996 Jan 5-7	24	72	4
1995
1995 Aug 11-14	33	64	3
1995 Jul 7-9	32	65	3
1995 Mar 27-29	30	66	4
	Satisfied	Dissatisfied	No opinion
1994
1994 Nov 28-29	29	67	4
1994 Nov 2-6	30	66	4
1994 Oct 22-25	31	66	3
1994 Jul 15-17	33	65	2
1994 May 20-22	33	64	3
1994 Apr 22-24	32	65	3
1994 Mar 25-27	35	62	3
1994 Feb 26-28	36	61	3
1994 Jan 15-17	35	62	3
1993
1993 Dec 4-6	34	63	3
1993 Nov 2-4	27	70	3
1993 May 21-23	24	73	3
1993 Feb 12-14	25	71	4
1993 Jan 8-11	29	68	3
1992
1992 Nov 11-12	26	68	6
1992 Aug 28-Sep 2 ‡	22	73	5
1992 Jul 31-Aug 2	17	80	3
1992 Jun 12-14	14	84	2
1992 May 7-10	20	77	3
1992 Apr 20-22 ^	19	80	1
1992 Mar 20-22	19	80	1
1992 Feb 28-Mar 1	21	78	1
1992 Jan 31-Feb 2 ^	24	75	1
1992 Jan 3-6 ^	24	74	2
1991
1991 Dec 5-8	37	60	3
1991 Oct 31-Nov 2	35	62	3
1991 Oct 10-13	39	57	4
1991 Aug 23-25	49	45	6
1991 Jul 11-14	43	50	7
1991 May 23-26	49	49	2
1991 Mar 21-24	52	43	5
1991 Feb 28-Mar 3	66	31	3
1991 Feb 14-17	54	40	6
1991 Jan 17-21	62	33	5
1991 Jan 3-6	32	61	7
	Satisfied	Dissatisfied	No opinion
1990
1990 Dec 13-16	33	64	3
1990 Nov 1-4	32	64	4
1990 Oct 25-28	31	66	3
1990 Oct 11-14	29	67	4
1990 Sep 27-30	37	58	5
1990 Aug 30-Sep 2	51	44	5
1990 Aug 9-12	43	51	6
1990 Jul 19-22	45	51	4
1990 Feb 8-11	55	39	6
1989
1989 May 4-7	44	50	6
1989 Feb	45	50	5
1988
1988 Sep 25-Oct 1	56	40	4
1988 May 13-15	41	54	5
1987
1987 Aug 24-Sep 2	45	49	6
1986
1986 Dec 4-5 †	47	49	4
1986 Sep 3-17	58	38	4
1986 Jun 9-16	69	26	5
1986 Mar 7-10	66	30	4
1985
1985 Nov 11-18	51	46	3
1984
1984 Dec	52	40	8
1984 Sep 28-Oct 1	48	45	7
1984 Feb 10-13	50	46	4
1983
1983 Aug 5-8	35	59	6
1982
1982 Nov 5-8	24	72	4
1982 Sep 17-20	24	72	4
1982 Apr 2-5	25	71	4
1981
1981 Dec 11-14	27	67	6
1981 Jun 5-8	33	61	6
1981 Jan 9-12	17	78	5
1979
1979 Nov 2-5	19	77	4
1979 Jul 13-16	12	84	4
1979 Feb 2-5	26	69	5
^ Registered voters
† Gallup/Newsweek
‡ Gallup/CNN/Knight-Ridder

What do you think is the most important problem facing this country today? [Open-ended]

		Nov 11-14, 2002	Oct 14-17, 2002	Sep 5-8, 2002	Aug 5-8, 2002
		%	%	%	%
	ECONOMIC PROBLEMS (NET)	37	37	35	36
1	Economy in general	28	29	24	25
2	Unemployment/jobs	7	6	8	6
3	High cost of living/inflation	1	*	*	1
4	Taxes	1	1	2	2
5	Federal budget deficit/federal debt	1	1	*	2
6	Wage issues	1	1	1	*
7	Lack of money	*	*	--	1
8	Gap between rich and poor	*	*	*	1
9	Corporate corruption	*	1	2	4
10	Recession	*	*	*	*
	Fuel/oil prices	--	*	*	1

	NON-ECONOMIC PROBLEMS (NET)	73	78	76	72
1	Terrorism	19	32	19	23
2	Fear of war/feelings of fear in this country	14	15	10	5
3	National security	7	4	5	6
4	Poor healthcare/hospitals; high cost of health care	7	4	5	3
5	Ethics/moral/religious/ family decline; dishonesty; lack of integrity	7	4	10	9
6	Education/poor education/ access to education	6	6	6	5
7	International issues/problems	6	9	8	4
8	Dissatisfaction with government/ Congress/politicians/candidates; Poor leadership; corruption	4	4	7	7
9	Crime/violence	3	10	3	3
10	Poverty/hunger/homelessness	3	3	4	4
11	Drugs	2	1	1	1
12	Medicare/Social Security issues	2	1	1	1
13	Immigration/illegal aliens	2	1	2	4
14	Judicial system/courts/laws	1	1	2	2
15	Care for the elderly	1	1	2	1
16	Foreign aid/focus overseas	1	1	1	2
17	Race relations/ racism	1	*	*	2
18	Lack of respect for each other	1	1	*	1
19	Environment/ pollution	1	1	1	3
20	Unifying the country	1	*	1	1
21	Children's behavior/ way they are raised	1	1	2	1
22	Abortion	1	1	*	1
23	Lack of energy sources; the energy crisis	1	*	1	*
24	Welfare	*	1	1	*
25	The media	*	*	--	*
26	Child abuse	*	*	*	*
27	Guns/gun control	*	*	--	*
28	Overpopulation	*	*	1	*
29	Lack of military defense	*	*	1	--
	AIDS	--	--	*	*
	School shootings/school violence	--	--	--	--
	Other non-economic	5	5	4	7

	No opinion	5	3	3	3
	Total	141%	149%	138%	142%

* Less than 0.5%

What do you think is the most important problem facing this country today? [Open-ended]

		Jul 26-28, 2002	Jul 9-11, 2002	Jun 3-6, 2002
	ECONOMIC PROBLEMS (NET)	40	35	24
1	Economy in general	26	20	14
2	Unemployment/jobs	6	6	8
3	High cost of living/inflation	1	1	*
4	Taxes	1	2	1
5	Federal budget deficit/federal debt	1	1	1
6	Wage issues	1	*	*
7	Lack of Money	*	1	--
8	Gap between rich and poor	1	*	1
9	Corporate corruption	7	6	--
10	Recession	*	*	*
	Fuel/Oil Prices	*	--	*

	NON-ECONOMIC PROBLEMS (NET)	64	76	83
1	Terrorism	22	30	33
2	Fear of war/feelings of fear in this country	3	4	7
3	National security	5	7	6
4	Poor healthcare/hospitals; high cost of health care	3	4	5
5	Ethics/moral/religious/ family decline; dishonesty; lack of integrity	6	8	7
6	Education/poor education/ access to education	4	6	8
7	International issues/ problems	5	3	4
8	Dissatisfaction with government/ Congress/politicians/candidates; Poor leadership; corruption	6	7	6
9	Crime/violence	4	3	2
10	Poverty/ hunger/ homelessness	4	4	4
11	Drugs	3	2	3
12	Medicare/Social Security issues	2	*	2
13	Immigration/illegal aliens	2	3	3
14	Judicial system/courts/laws	1	1	2
15	Care for the elderly	*	1	2
16	Foreign aid/focus overseas	*	1	1
17	Race relations/ racism	1	2	1
18	Lack of respect for each other	1	1	*
19	Environment/ pollution	2	2	2
20	Unifying the country	*	1	1
21	Children's behavior/ way they are raised	1	2	1
22	Abortion	*	*	*
23	Lack of energy sources; the energy crisis	*	1	*
24	Welfare	1	1	1
25	The media	*	*	1
26	Child abuse	*	--	*
27	Guns/gun control	*	*	*
28	Overpopulation	*	--	*
29	Lack of military defense	--	*	*
	AIDS	*	--	--
	School shootings/school violence	--	--	--
	Other non-economic	8	3	4

	No opinion	5	4	4
	Total	133%	138%	135%
* Less than 0.5%

Do you approve or disapprove of the way George W. Bush is handling his job as president?

	Approve	Disapprove	No opinion
	%	%	%
2002
2002 Nov 11-14	66	26	8

2002 Nov 8-10	68	27	5
2002 Oct 31- Nov 3	63	29	8
2002 Oct 21-22	67	28	5
2002 Oct 14-17	62	31	7
2002 Oct 3-6	67	28	5
2002 Sep 23-26	68	26	6
2002 Sep 20-22	66	30	4
2002 Sep 13-16	70	26	4
2002 Sep 5-8	66	30	4
2002 Sep 2-4	66	29	5
2002 Aug 19-21	65	28	7
2002 Aug 5-8	68	26	6
2002 Jul 29-31	71	23	6
2002 Jul 26-28	69	26	5
2002 Jul 22-24	69	24	7
2002 Jul 9-11	73	21	6
2002 Jul 5-8	76	18	6
2002 Jun 28-30	76	19	5
2002 Jun 21-23	73	21	6
2002 Jun 17-19	74	20	6
2002 Jun 7-8	74	18	8
2002 Jun 3-6	70	23	7
2002 May 28-29	77	17	6
2002 May 20-22	76	17	7
2002 May 6-9	76	19	5
2002 Apr 29- May 1	77	20	3
2002 Apr 22-24	77	17	6
2002 Apr 8-11	75	20	5
2002 Apr 5-7	76	19	5
2002 Mar 22-24	79	17	4
2002 Mar 18-20	79	16	5
2002 Mar 8-9	80	14	6
2002 Mar 4-7	77	18	5
2002 Mar 1-3	81	14	5
2002 Feb 8-10	82	14	4
2002 Feb 4-6	82	14	4
2002 Jan 25-27	84	13	3
2002 Jan 11-14	83	13	4
2002 Jan 7-9	84	12	4
	Approve	Disapprove	No opinion
2001	%	%	%
2001 Dec 14-16	86	11	3
2001 Dec 6-9	86	10	4
2001 Nov 26-27	87	8	5
2001 Nov 8-11	87	9	4
2001 Nov 2-4	87	9	4
2001 Oct 19-21	88	9	3
2001 Oct 11-14	89	8	3
2001 Oct 5-6	87	10	3
2001 Sep 21-22	90	6	4
2001 Sep 14-15	86	10	4
2001 Sep 7-10	51	39	10
2001 Aug 24-26	55	36	9
2001 Aug 16-19	57	34	9
2001 Aug 10-12	57	35	8
2001 Aug 3-5	55	35	10
2001 Jul 19-22	56	33	11
2001 Jul 10-11	57	35	8
2001 Jun 28-Jul 1	52	34	14
2001 Jun 11-17	55	33	12
2001 Jun 8-10	55	35	10
2001 May 18-20	56	36	8
2001 May 10-14	56	31	13
2001 May 7-9	53	33	14
2001 Apr 20-22	62	29	9
2001 Apr 6-8	59	30	11
2001 Mar 26-28	53	29	18
2001 Mar 9-11	58	29	13
2001 Mar 5-7	63	22	15
2001 Feb 19-21	62	21	17
2001 Feb 9-11	57	25	18
2001 Feb 1-4	57	25	18

Economy, Terrorism Continue to Top List of Most Important Problems

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