The economy carries the greatest weight of nine key issues in determining how Americans rate President Barack Obama overall. Americans who approve of the job Obama is doing on the economy are six times more likely to approve of Obama’s overall performance than those who disapprove of Obama’s handling of […] Read more »
Another clue to Obama’s 2012 victory: Americans weren’t doing so badly
What happens if Americans got wealthier when nobody was looking? There are a number of ways to measure the health of the economy: gross domestic product (GDP) growth, job growth, and how much disposable personal income (DPI) Americans have. It turns out Americans have had more of the latter, if […] Read more »
Economic Confidence Remains at Lower Level
Gallup’s Economic Confidence Index was -13 last week, declining to the levels seen during most of July and August, after a slightly better reading two weeks ago. The current index reading is 10 points lower than the peak reached in late May and early June. [cont.] Alyssa Brown, Gallup Read more »
Consumer sentiment weakens in August
U.S. consumers, bracing for higher interest rates and slightly slower economic growth, were a bit less optimistic in August as sentiment retreated from last month’s six-year high, a survey released on Friday showed. The Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan’s preliminary reading on the overall index on consumer sentiment slipped to 80.0 […] Read more »
Barack Obama’s lost youth
… Obama’s overall approval was 50.8% per Gallup in the month before election, but it has decreased by 5.1pt, to 45.7%, since July. The decline, it turns out, can mostly be ascribed to younger voters. … But why are young Americans rejecting Obama? I can think of possible sources. First, […] Read more »
More Nonwhites Than Whites Say Jobs the Top Issue
One in four Americans name the economy as the most important problem facing the country today, followed by unemployment and jobs at 19%, and dissatisfaction with government at 17%. Nonwhites (25%) are much more likely than whites (16%) to say unemployment is the most important problem; this issue ranks behind […] Read more »