{"id":50512,"date":"2012-01-19T11:17:06","date_gmt":"2012-01-19T16:17:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/2012\/01\/19\/section-3-views-of-economic-conditions\/"},"modified":"2024-04-14T03:48:21","modified_gmt":"2024-04-14T08:48:21","slug":"section-3-views-of-economic-conditions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/politics\/2012\/01\/19\/section-3-views-of-economic-conditions\/","title":{"rendered":"Section 3: Views of Economic Conditions"},"content":{"rendered":"

From the public\u2019s perspective, the economic news over the past year has been particular volatile. As recently as August, the Pew Research Center\u2019s News Interest Index surveys found 67% saying they were hearing \u201cmostly bad news\u201d about the economy.\u00a0 But the latest update earlier this month <\/a>found only 30% saying the economic reports they were hearing were <\/p>\n\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n

mostly bad news, while 60% said the economic news was a mix of good and bad, and 9% said the news was mostly good.<\/p>\n\n

While what people are hearing about unemployment rates and economic growth month-to-month registers with them, it does not have an immediate impact on their overall economic assessments. For more than three years, roughly 90% of Americans have said the nation\u2019s economy is in only fair or poor shape, with little variation around ups-and-downs in the economic news cycle.<\/p>\n\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n

Despite hearing some more positive reports in recent months, the American public enters 2012 with the same negative overall assessments. Most say the economy is in only fair (42%) or poor (47%) shape, with only a small minority (11%) offering a positive rating.<\/p>\n\n

But the economic outlook of Americans has improved slightly over the past month.\u00a0 Currently, 34% say they expect the economy to be in better shape a year from now, up from a 3-year low of 28% last <\/p>\n\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n

month.\u00a0 This improved outlook comes predominantly from Democrats, 51% of whom say they think the economy will pick up over the next year. Only around half as many Republicans (23%) and independents (29%) share this optimism.<\/p>\n\n

Despite four consecutive months of dropping unemployment rates, Americans continue to see tough times on the job front.\u00a0 Fully 78% say that jobs are difficult to find in their area, <\/p>\n\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n

down only modestly from a decade high of 85% last March.\u00a0 Just 16% say they think there are plenty of jobs available in their community.<\/p>\n\n

Unlike other economic measures, where Democrats offer a more upbeat assessment than Republicans, Republicans and Democrats have virtually identical assessments of job availability: 21% in each party believe that there are plenty of jobs available. By contrast, independents are particularly skeptical about the job situation \u2013 only 10% believe there are plenty of jobs available these days.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

From the public\u2019s perspective, the economic news over the past year has been particular volatile. As recently as August, the Pew Research Center\u2019s News Interest Index surveys found 67% saying they were hearing \u201cmostly bad news\u201d about the economy.\u00a0 But the latest update earlier this month found only 30% saying the economic reports they were 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