Economic Attitudes Down From Last Month

NEW YORK , N.Y. – March 27, 2013 – Almost one month into sequester and the stock market continues to hit new highs. Does this mean the American public hears the stories about cancelled White House tours and shuttered air traffic control towers and doesn’t believe anything worse will be coming? In looking at overall attitudes on some general economic indicators, U.S. adults do seem a little more negative when compared to last month. And, in looking at how the country overall is going, just one-third (34%) say the country is going in the right direction, while two-thirds (66%) believe it is heading off on the wrong track.

Looking ahead, three in ten Americans (30%) expect the economy to be better in the coming year, 37% expect it to stay the same and one-third (33%) expect it to get worse. Last month, 32% said the economy would be better, 40% said it would stay the same and 28% said it would get worse.

These are some of the results of The Harris Poll of 2,276 adults surveyed online between March 13 and 18, 2013 by Harris Interactive.

Looking at household financial conditions, while about half of Americans (49%) say their financial conditions will stay the same over the next six months, one in five (21%) say it will get better and three in ten (30%) believe it will get worse. In February, just about one-quarter each thought their household’s financial condition would get better (23%) and get worse (27%); half (50%) believed it would remain the same.

Politics and the Economy

Looking at President Obama and his overall handling of the economy, one-third of U.S. adults (33%) give him positive ratings while 67% give him negative ratings. Last month, 36% gave the President positive ratings on his handling of the economy while 64% gave him negative ratings. Looking at this by political party, it’s not surprising that over nine in ten Republicans (93%) give President Obama negative marks on his handling of the economy, but so do seven in ten Independents (71%) and over one-third of Democrats (36%).

Most Important Issue

As the economy continues to sputter along, it’s not surprising that economic concerns are four of the top five issues that Americans identify as the two most important items for the government to address, and part of the fifth as well. Over one-quarter of U.S. adults believe the general economy should be addressed (27%) and employment and the job issue (26%). Just under one-quarter (23%) identify healthcare (not Medicare), while one in five (20%) specify the budget and spending issues and 16% point to the national debt.

So What?

Yes, the stock market is at all time highs and the housing market, at least in many parts of the country, is picking up steam. But, Americans still seem to have a great deal of uncertainty about the overall economic conditions of the country. Perhaps if they see the rally has legs this time, the sense of unease will abate and Americans will begin spending and not worrying as much with regard to the economy. But looking at these numbers, that seems to be a ways off at this point, and Americans’ sense of uncertainty is still there.

TABLE 1

PRESIDENT OBAMA’S JOB RATING ON THE ECONOMY – TREND

Now, turning to something different, how would you rate the overall job that President Barack Obama is doing on the economy?

Base: All adults

Note: Percentages may not add up exactly to 100% due to rounding; In February 2012 Not at all sure was offered as a response choice and 4% responded in that way.

TABLE 2

PRESIDENT OBAMA’S JOB RATING ON THE ECONOMY – BY POLITICAL PARTY

Now, turning to something different, how would you rate the overall job that President Barack Obama is doing on the economy?

Base: All adults

Note: Percentages may not add up exactly to 100% due to rounding.

TABLE 3

EXPECTATIONS FOR THE ECONOMY IN THE COMING YEAR – TREND

In the coming year, do you expect the economy to…?

Base: All adults

Note: Percentages may not add up exactly to 100% due to rounding

TABLE 4

EXPECTATIONS FOR HOUSEHOLD FINANCIAL CONDITION IN NEXT SIX MONTHS

Thinking about your household’s financial condition, do you expect it to be better or worse in the next 6 months?

Base: All adults

Note: Percentages may not add to 100% due to rounding;

TABLE 5

RIGHT DIRECTION OR WRONG TRACK

Generally speaking, would you say things in the country are going in the right direction or have they pretty seriously gotten off on the wrong track?

Base: All adults

TABLE 7

MOST IMPORTANT ISSUE

What do you think are the two most important issues for the government to address?

Spontaneous, unprompted replies

Base: All adults

= Less than 0.5%, X = Not mentioned as specific issue

Note: Prior to March, 2009, this question was asked via telephone

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Methodology

This Harris Poll was conducted online within the United States between March 13 and 18, 2013 among 2,276 adults (aged 18 and over). Figures for age, sex, race/ethnicity, education, region and household income were weighted where necessary to bring them into line with their actual proportions in the population. Propensity score weighting was also used to adjust for respondents’ propensity to be online.

All sample surveys and polls, whether or not they use probability sampling, are subject to multiple sources of error which are most often not possible to quantify or estimate, including sampling error, coverage error, error associated with nonresponse, error associated with question wording and response options, and post-survey weighting and adjustments. Therefore, Harris Interactive avoids the words margin of error as they are misleading. All that can be calculated are different possible sampling errors with different probabilities for pure, unweighted, random samples with 100% response rates. These are only theoretical because no published polls come close to this ideal.

Respondents for this survey were selected from among those who have agreed to participate in Harris Interactive surveys. The data have been weighted to reflect the composition of the adult population. Because the sample is based on those who agreed to participate in the Harris Interactive panel, no estimates of theoretical sampling error can be calculated.

These statements conform to the principles of disclosure of the National Council on Public Polls.

The results of this Harris Poll may not be used in advertising, marketing or promotion without the prior written permission of Harris Interactive.

J42775

Q1205, 1208, 705, 713, 715

The Harris Poll^® #16, March 27, 2013

By Regina A. Corso, SVP, Harris Poll and Public Relations, Harris Interactive

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