The FINANCIAL — Americans’ recently improved confidence in the U.S. economy held firm last week as Gallup’s Economic Confidence Index averaged +14, similar to +13 one week earlier.
The latest results, based on Gallup Daily tracking from Jan. 23-29, span the first full week of tracking during President Donald Trump’s administration.
Gallup’s three-day rolling averages show that confidence was a bit stronger earlier in the week than it was toward the end of the week. Gallup’s index averaged +18 from Jan. 23-25, essentially tying the highest three-day average in Gallup’s trend (+19), recorded Jan. 21-23.
However, by the end of the week, the index had tapered back to +10, similar to where it has been since mid-January. This slight decrease coincided with a lackluster report from the Bureau of Economic Analysis, which estimated 2016 to be the 11th consecutive year of less than 3% growth in U.S. gross domestic product, according to Gallup.
Gallup’s U.S. Economic Confidence Index is the average of two components: how Americans rate current economic conditions and whether they feel the economy is improving or getting worse. The index has a theoretical maximum of +100 if all Americans were to say the economy is doing well and improving, and a theoretical minimum of -100 if all Americans were to say the economy is doing poorly and getting worse.
The current conditions score for the week ending Jan. 29 was +14, up two points from the previous week’s record high. This was based on 34% of Americans rating the economy as “excellent” or “good,” and 20% rating it as “poor.”
The economic outlook score was +13, the same as the prior week, and was based on 53% of Americans saying economic conditions in the country were “getting better,” and 40% saying they were “getting worse.”
