PRINCETON, NJ -- ý Daily polling conducted Wednesday through Friday finds essentially no change in Americans' economic mood over the previous three-day rolling average. The latest results, based on interviewing conducted Jan. 23-25, show 22% of Americans rating current economic conditions as "excellent" or "good," 46% calling them "only fair," and 32% "poor."
Separately, 13% of national adults say the national economy is getting better, while 82% believe it is worsening.
The trend in Americans' economic mood has been negative on both ý Daily indicators since Jan. 2. The percentage saying current economic conditions are "poor" rose from 24% in Jan. 2-4 polling to 31% in polling conducted Jan. 19-22, spanning a period of sharp decline in the U.S. stock market. That rating has remained at about the same highly negative level in the last three days.
A similar pattern is seen in perceptions of the economy's direction. Between Jan. 2-4 polling and Jan. 17-19 polling, the percentage of Americans saying the economy is getting worse rose from 73% to 81%. It has held at the 81% to 82% level over the past week.
As noted Friday, this suggests that neither the Federal Reserve's surprise interest-rate cut this past week, nor recent news of an agreement between President Bush and Congress on a fiscal stimulus package, are yet swaying consumer attitudes. (If anything, these actions may be reinforcing Americans' perception that the economy is in trouble.) -- Lydia Saad
Methodology: ý is interviewing 1,000 U.S. adults nationwide each day during 2008. The results reported here are based on 1,435 interviews conducted Jan. 23-25, 2008. For results based on this sample, the maximum margin of sampling error is ±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.