Even in the wake of a recent Labor Department report showing an anemic gain in jobs in July, and a 3% decline in the stock market, increasing numbers of Americans are feeling optimistic about the nation’s economy, according to a new survey.
Compiled by the company Rasmussen Reports, the survey shows that 31% of respondents said they are feeling good about where the economy will be in the next year, compared to 21% who said they thought things will be worse by August of 2025.
Neither optimistic nor pessimistic, 26% of respondents said they thought the economy will be unchanged twelve months from now.
The survey of more than 1,200 scientifically selected respondents represented a significant upturn from last summer when a strong 48% expressed negative feelings about the future of the economy.
In that earlier survey only 26% said they felt optimistic about the economy’s future.
The Rasmussen Reports survey parallels another poll, the CNBC All American Economic Survey, which shows 34% of respondents expressing optimism about the future of the economy, while just 20% said they thought things would be getting worse.
The CNBC survey also showed that 32% of self-identifying Democrats felt good about the economy in the months ahead, with a very small 3% of Republicans feeling the same way.
At the same time the CNBC survey showed a general pessimism regarding current economic conditions, with 78% of respondents saying today’s economy is either fair or poor. That statistic is actually an increase over responses in March when 75% characterized the current economy as fair or poor.
By Garry Boulard
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