Americans were slightly optimistic about the state of the economy last week, with Gallup's U.S. Economic Confidence Index averaging +3 for the week ended July 9, the researcher said in a statement. Last week's score is in line with the index's performance for May and June.

U.S. employers added 222,000 jobs in June, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, exceeding most economists' expectations. The most recent BLS jobs report had no immediate effect on economic confidence.

Since the first week of May, the index has remained in a tight range of +2 to +4, apart from a slightly lower score of zero last week, which appears to have been a short-term dip.

Confidence in the economy remains down notably from the higher levels seen in the first three months of the year, including the measure's weekly post-recession high of +16 in early March. The index lost ground in late March and again in early May, largely related to Democrats' eroding confidence in the economy, though this has mostly stabilized in recent weeks.

Taking a broader view, Americans remain far more confident in the economy than they were throughout most of 2008-2016.

For the week ending July 9, 34% of Americans assessed the economy as "excellent" or "good," while 23% said it was "poor," yielding a current conditions component score of +11.

Last week, slightly more Americans continued to say the economy was "getting worse" than to say it was "getting better," at 49% and 44%, respectively. This leaves the economic outlook component at -5 for the week.

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