Two in five Americans (41%) believe that it will not happen for another year or longer, while over one-quarter (28%) say it will start growing in 6 to 12 months. Just over one in ten U.S. adults (12%) say the economy will start growing in the next 6 months and only 7% believe it has already started growing.
There are definitely political differences on this issue. Over half of Republicans (53%) believe the economy will not start growing again for another year or longer compared to just 35% of Democrats and 38% of Independents. Democrats are more likely than Republicans, however, to believe that the economy will begin growing in 6 to 12 months (35% vs. 19%).
The Job Market
The current job market and expectations for the future job market are not looking good:
- Just under one in ten Americans (9%) rate the current job market of their region of the country as good while 72% rate it as bad. This is down from April when 12% of U.S. adults rated it as good and two-thirds (66%) rated it as bad;
- Regionally, those in the South are more optimistic about the job market with 12% rating it as good and seven in ten (70%) rating it as bad. Midwesterners are most negative with over three-quarters (77%) saying the job market in their region is bad;
- Looking to the future, one in five Americans (21%) believe the job market in their region of the country will be better in six months, while just under half (47%) believe it will stay the same and one-third (32%) say it will get worse. This is also a change from April when 23% of Americans believed the job market would be better, 42% said things would remain the same and 36% believed things would be worse in six months; and,
- While almost three in five Americans (58%) say they are not concerned that the main income earner in their household will become unemployed in the next six months, 42% of Americans are concerned this might happen. This is almost unchanged from April when 57% of Americans were not concerned and 43% were concerned.
So What?
With American optimism low and continued worries about the economy, President Obama’s honeymoon seems to be on the wane. Any hope that the economy would turn around quickly seems to have dissipated. Besides the national economy there are other global issues such as Iran and North Korea, as well as the domestic push on healthcare that are major issues being dealt with by the White House. Americans may believe that economic issues will get pushed downwards in terms of importance and this is something that will not sit well with them.
