The FINANCIAl — After months of dreariness, the unofficial arrival of summer brings sunshine and thoughts of better times. And this overall attitude seems to hold true not just for the weather and season, but in regards to the state of the country as well.
The FINANCIAl — After months of dreariness, the unofficial arrival of summer brings sunshine and thoughts of better times. And this overall attitude seems to hold true not just for the weather and season, but in regards to the state of the country as well. First, President Obama seems to be making some headway with the American public, as almost two in five (38%) give the overall job he is doing positive ratings while 62% give him negative ratings. Last month, one-third of U.S. adults (33%) gave him positive marks while two-thirds (67%) gave him negative ratings. The last time the President was at ratings level this high was back in July of 2013, when 39% of U.S. adults gave him positive ratings, according to Harris Interactive Inc.
Feelings on the direction the country is going in are also rising, although not by as much. After three months of the same, with one-third of Americans (34%) saying things in the country are going in the right direction and two-thirds (66%) saying things have gotten off on the wrong track, this month there is a change. Just over one-third (35%) now say things are going in the right direction while just under two-thirds (65%) say things are going off on the wrong track.
Overall, general feelings on broad economic issues are also rising. Over one-third of Americans (35%) give President Obama positive ratings on his handling of the economy and just under two-thirds (65%) give him negative ratings. Last month, one-third (32%) gave him positive ratings while 68% gave him negative marks. As with his overall ratings, this is the highest ratings President Obama has had in almost a year; in June, 2013 35% of U.S. adults gave him positive marks on the economy, according to Harris Interactive Inc.
When it comes to overall sentiments regarding the economy, just over one-quarter each say they expect the economy to improve in the coming year (26%) and that they expect it to get worse (27%), while almost half (48%) say it will stay the same. In March, three in ten Americans (31%) said the economy would get worse in the coming year and 24% said it would improve. The theme continues, as this is the lowest number of U.S. adults who said the economy would get worse since last July, when again 27% said it would get worse.
Taking it a little closer to home, almost one-quarter of Americans (24%) say they expect their household's financial condition to be better in the coming six months, while over half (52%) say it will remain the same and less than one-quarter (23%) believe it will be worse. In March, one in five (21%) said their household's financial condition would be better in the next six months while over one-quarter (27%) said it would be worse. Again, the last time the number of people who believed their household's finances would be better was this "high" (at 24%) was in July of last year.
The one outlier to this trend of higher ratings and attitudes is the United States Congress. Just like last month, more than nine in ten Americans (93%) give Congress negative ratings and only 7% give them positive marks for the overall job they are doing, according to Harris Interactive Inc.
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