Americans' confidence in the U.S. economy rose slightly in August, though the current rating still ranks among the lowest, according to a Gallup Poll released Wednesday.
Gallup's Economic Confidence Index, which summarizes Americans' assessments of current economic conditions and their view of whether the economy is getting better or worse, improved from -51 to -39 from July to August.
The figure has been low since COVID-19, when it dropped from +41 in February 2020 to -32 in April of that year.
Gallup started measuring economic confidence in 1992.
The survey found:
- 16% of U.S. adults rate current conditions as excellent or good, while 47% describe them as poor. An additional 36% say they are "only fair."
- 25% of Americans say the economy is getting better, and 72% say it is getting worse. In July, those figures were 16% and 80%, respectively.
- 18% of U.S. adults say inflation is the most important problem facing the U.S.
- Another 14% of Americans name the economy in general terms as the most important problem.
"As gas prices have declined and inflation appears to be leveling off, Americans have grown more confident in the state of the U.S. economy," said the Gallup release. "Yet, gas prices and inflation remain elevated compared with where they were a year ago, and economic growth is declining. These factors all contribute to Americans rating the economy negatively overall."
Solange Reyner ✉
Solange Reyner is a writer and editor for Newsmax. She has more than 15 years in the journalism industry reporting and covering news, sports and politics.
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