Fewer than a quarter of Americans (23%) currently rate the country’s economic conditions as excellent or good, while 36% say they are poor and about four-in-ten (41%) view conditions as “only fair.”
While positive ratings of the economy have slowly climbed since the summer of 2022, there has been a slight drop since the start of the year – when 28% rated economic conditions as excellent or good.
This change has been largely driven by Democrats and Democratic leaners: In January of this year, 44% of Democrats rated the economy positively, compared with 37% now.
Still, ratings among Democrats remain higher than they were last year.
Views among Republicans and GOP leaners remain negative: Just one-in-ten rate economic conditions as excellent or good, while half say they are poor and another four-in-ten view them as “only fair.”
Views of the nation’s economy have long been partisan.
- Republicans expressed far more positive views of the economy than did Democrats throughout most of Donald Trump’s presidency.
- Democrats have been consistently more likely than Republicans to rate conditions as excellent or good during Biden’s presidency. However, their ratings have been far less positive than Republicans’ ratings of the economy were when Trump was president.
There also are wide differences in views of the economy by age and race and ethnicity – especially among Democrats.
Age, race and ethnicity
As in the past, Democrats under age 50 express much less positive views of the nation’s economy than do Democrats 50 and older:
- Just 21% of Democrats under 30 rate economic conditions positively, as do 29% of those 30 to 49.
- By contrast, nearly half of Democrats ages 50 to 64 (47%) and a majority of those 65 and older (55%) say conditions are excellent or good.
However, since January there has been a steeper decline in positive views among Democrats 65 and older (from 70% to 55%) than among Democrats in younger age groups.
Republicans are much less likely to view current economic conditions in positive terms across age groups.
There are also significant differences among Democrats by race and ethnicity. White Democrats are more likely than Black, Hispanic and Asian Democrats to rate the economy positively. However, ratings have dropped across these groups since January.
Views of personal finances and national economic ratings
As might be expected, those who rate their personal finances positively also are more likely to rate national economic conditions as excellent or good.
Among the roughly four-in-ten Americans (41%) who rate their own finances positively, 40% rate the national economy positively. Among those who say their finances are only fair or poor, far fewer say national economic conditions are excellent or good (14% among only fair, 6% among poor).
However, partisanship is a factor here as well. Among Democrats who have a positive evaluation of their finances, 58% rate economic conditions positively. That compares with just 19% of Republicans who give similarly positive ratings of their financial situation.
Similar shares in both parties view personal financial situation positively
Overall, personal financial ratings have fluctuated less dramatically than national ratings.
However, the share of Americans who rate their personal finances as excellent or good declined from about 50% in 2021 to about 40% in 2022 and has remained at about that level since then.
About four-in-ten say their financial situation is in excellent or good shape (41%), while a similar share say their situation is in “only fair” shape (39%). Another 19% say their situation is in poor shape.
Americans’ ratings of their personal finances are considerably less partisan than their views of the nation’s economy. Roughly four-in-ten Democrats (44%) say their financial situation is in excellent or good shape.
Americans’ views on the future of the economy and their financial situation
When asked for their expectations of the country’s economic conditions a year from now, 43% of Americans say they expect it to be about the same as it currently is. About a quarter (24%) say they expect the economy will be better a year from now, and nearly a third (32%) expect conditions to worsen.
And when asked for their expectations of their own family’s financial situation a year from now, 49% of adults say they expect it to be about the same. Roughly a third (34%) say they expect their financial situation will be better a year from now, and 16% expect their situation to worsen.
The shares of the public who expect economic conditions to worsen on either a national level or personal level is smaller than in recent years.
Among partisans, similar shares expect economic conditions of the country to be better a year from now (23% of Republicans, 26% of Democrats). However, a larger share of Republicans than Democrats expect the country’s economic conditions to worsen (38% vs. 25%).
Republicans remain less hopeful than Democrats about the future of their personal financial situation. About three-in-ten Republicans (29%) say their family’s personal finances will be better a year from now, compared with 39% of Democrats who say the same. And twice as many Republicans as Democrats say they expect their own financial situation to worsen (22% vs. 11%).
