Gallup said a recent poll found that U.S. economic confidence only slipped slightly despite stock-market volatility and increasing talk of a possible U.S. recession.

Gallup's August update finds its Economic Confidence Index at +24, down slightly from +29 in July. The current measure is largely in line with other 2019 measurements, apart from a higher +32 reading in February and a lower +16 score in January.

The index is lower because Americans are less positive about the economy's direction than they were a month ago. Currently, 50% of Americans say the economy is getting better and 43% say it is getting worse, a margin of seven percentage points. In July, the margin was 17 points, 54% to 37%.

Meanwhile, Americans' assessments of current U.S. economic conditions are unchanged -- 54% describe these as excellent or good in August, compared with 53% in July, Gallup reported.

The economy in general and the federal budget deficit are the two most commonly cited specific economic concerns each mentioned by just 3% of Americans as the most important problem.

The issues Americans are most likely to view as the top problems facing the U.S. are the government (22%) and immigration (18%).

The Economic Confidence Index is based on answers to questions about current economic conditions and the momentum of the economy. It has a theoretical range of -100 to +100, with positive scores indicating an overall positive evaluation of the economy. The index has been in positive territory since 2017, peaking at +33 last October. The all-time high reading was +56 in January 2000. Gallup first measured economic confidence in 1992.

Meanwhile, U.S. consumer expectations fell to a five-month low in August as fears of an economic downturn and stock market volatility weighed on sentiment.

The Bloomberg Consumer Comfort Index’s monthly expectations gauge fell to 48.5 from 55 as a larger share of respondents said the economy is getting worse, according to the Aug. 6-18 survey released Thursday. The weekly reading edged up to 61.5 from 61.2 as Americans’ views of their finances and the buying climate improved.