The percentage of Americans who say that the economy is “poor” continues to rise, according to a new poll. A survey conducted between The Economist and YouGov from November 28 and December 1 asked US adults on how they felt about the current state of the economy. While the vast majority of Americans believe it is “poor” or “fair,” a spare few still say that it is “excellent.”
Majority of Americans believe the economy is “fair” or “poor”
A rising share of Americans believe that the economy is not in good shape, with 41% saying that it’s “poor” and 33% saying that it’s “fair.” On the flipside, 21% believe it is still “good” and 3% consider the economy to be “excellent.”
The poll points out that the 41% figure is the highest since April 2025, though more Americans said the economy was poor back in September 2024.
The same percentage of US adults (41%) say that they and their family are worse off financially than they were in 2024, as opposed to 12% who report being better off financially.
74% of respondents say that the prices of most goods are either much higher or slightly higher than they were a year ago, whereas 10% say that they are much lower or slightly lower. The survey notes a political divide in the answers for this question, with 93% of Democrats but only 49% of Republicans saying that prices are higher. Only 2% of Democrats say prices are lower, compared to 23% of Republicans.
The poll surveyed roughly 1,600 American adults and the baseline party identification of the respondents were split between Democrats (31%) and Republicans (33%). The margin of error for the sample is around 3%.
In October, Cardi B noted the financial strain on Americans and believed that more people were tightening their purse strings.
