Half still say US economy is getting worse: poll

Half of Americans in a poll released Thursday said the U.S. economy is continuing to get worse, despite recent positive indicators.

The CNN poll found that 51 percent of Americans said the economy is still in a downturn and conditions are continuing to worsen, while another 28 percent said an economic recovery has yet to start, but conditions are no longer getting worse.

Just 1 in 5 Americans said the U.S. economy is beginning to recover from its recent problems, according to the poll.

While a majority of Americans still have relatively negative views on the economy, Thursday’s poll represents a slight improvement over December, when 53 percent said the economy was getting worse and 30 percent said it was stable but not yet improving.

Three-quarters of respondents in the most recent poll rated the economy poorly, down slightly from May, when 76 percent of Americans said the economic conditions in the country were somewhat or very poor. Last summer, 82 percent rated the economy poorly.

Even as Americans remain doubtful about where the economy is headed, recent indicators have been mostly positive. U.S. gross domestic product grew at a 2.4 percent rate in the second quarter of 2023, exceeding the 1.8 percent economists expected.

Inflation has also continued to subside after reaching record highs last summer, slowing to 3 percent in June to mark its smallest annual increase in over two years.

The CNN poll was conducted by SSRS from July 1-31 with 1,279 U.S. adults and had a margin of error of 3.7 percentage points.