Well over half of the people in a recent Associated Press-NORC poll have a somewhat negative assessment of the nation’s economy, and a significant majority disapprove of Biden’s handling of the same.
While 65% indicated that they think the economy is either is very poor, somewhat poor, or that they leaned toward the view that the economy is poor, just 35% felt that the economy is very good, somewhat good, or leaned toward the view that the economy is good.
A tiny 2% think that the economy is very good, while nearly ten times as many (19%) think it is very poor. Similarly, 20% think the economy is somewhat good, compared to 33% who think it is somewhat poor. While 13% lean toward the view that the economy is good, 12% lean the other way.
The numbers show a negative shift in sentiment since a poll in late September. In that earlier poll 2% said the nation’s economy was very good and 27% indicated that it was somewhat good, while 12% thought it was very poor and 25% thought it was somewhat poor.
U.S. businesses and consumers have been facing price increases and supply chain issues, which could be dragging down public sentiment.
President Joe Biden’s approval rating on the economy has slipped according to the new poll, which found that while 58% disapprove of the way he is handling the economy, 41% approve. In the September poll the gap was much smaller at 51% who disapproved versus 47% who approved.
The new poll also found that many feel pessimistic about the direction the national economy will take over the next year. While 4% expect it to get much better and 26% think it will get somewhat better, 20% expect it to get much worse and 27% think it will get somewhat worse.
“The nationwide poll was conducted October 21-25, 2021 using the AmeriSpeak® Panel, the probability-based panel of NORC at the University of Chicago. Online and telephone interviews using landlines and cell phones were conducted with 1,083 adults. The margin of sampling error is +/- 4.0 percentage points,” according to apnorc.org.