1 1 <p>While <em>PollTrack </em>may be stating the obvious, Americabs remain very pessimistic about the economy, though they attitudes have taken an upturn since January.<a href="http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/business/indexes/rasmussen_consumer_index"> Rasmussen Report's "Consumer Index</a>, which measures the economic confidence of consumers on a daily basis, was up two points on Sunday to 71.8. The index is now down a point from a week ago and down three points from one month ago. However, today's index is up twelve points from its first reading of 2009 . . . Nationally, only 9% of adults rate the economy as good or excellent, while 57% disagree and say the economy is poor. 30% rate their personal finances as either good or excellent, while 24% rate their personal finances as poor"</p> 2009-06-14T12:29:33-04:00 963 false true 2009-06-16T09:40:03-04:00 2009-06-16T09:40:03-04:00 1 1 <p>Voter concerns about the econony are as high as they've been in three decades, since the fiscal meltdown of the mid-1970s. According to a new <em>ABC News/Washington Post</em> survey, "job insecurity is its worst in 33 years of polls; holiday spending plans, their worst in data back 23 years. Americans report cuts in work hours and pay, and concerns about making the rent or mortgage, heating the house, paying for retirement. In all it&rsquo;s an extraordinary loss of confidence &ndash; with repercussions in families across economic and political lines. . . 63% now think the country is in a 'long-term economic decline,' up from 49% 10 months ago; just a third say the economic system is still &ldquo;basically pretty solid.&rdquo; And while economic distress tends to be greatest among lower-income Americans, the biggest increase in views of a long-term decline has been among the better-off, hammered by the stock market." In a separate barometer of the nation's economic health, Separately, the weekly ABC News Consumer Comfort Index is in "the midst of its worst stretch since it began 23 years ago: Just 7% of Americans say the economy&rsquo;s in<br />good shape, 22% call it a good time to spend money and fewer than half, 44%, rate their personal finances positively."</p> 2008-12-17T18:21:53-05:00 619 false true 2008-12-18T09:18:19-05:00 2008-12-18T09:18:19-05:00 1 1 <p align="left"><a href="http://www.gallup.com/poll/110983/Americans-Satisfaction-AllTime-Low.aspx">Gallup </a>reports this afternoon that "only 9% of Americans are satisfied with the way things are going in the United States -- the lowest such reading in Gallup Poll history. The previous low point for Gallup's measure of satisfaction had been 12%, recorded back in 1979, in the midst of rising prices and gas shortages when Jimmy Carter was president. Gallup has recorded a 14% satisfaction level at several points -- once in the senior Bush's administration in 1992, and several times earlier this year."</p> 2008-10-08T17:09:59-04:00 227 true 2008-10-08T17:09:59-04:00 2008-10-08T17:09:59-04:00