Weekly Pulse Polling: At Least 50% of Americans Rate the US Economy as Either Good or Excellent

Washington, DC (February 14, 2019) – Prior to the shutdown in December, data from the Job Creators Network/ScottRasmussen.com Weekly Pulse survey showed that at least 50% of Americans rated the economy as good or excellent. From mid-December through late-January, however, that number fell to a low of 44% and remained consistently in the mid-40s. When the shutdown ended, the number rating the economy as good or excellent returned to 50% last week and 51% now.

Americans are also feeling good about their own personal finances, with 32 percent of Americans saying their finances were getting better, 48 percent saying they were about the same, and only 17 percent saying they were getting worse.

“Americans are definitely optimistic about both the economy and their personal finances,’” said Elaine Parker, President of the Job Creators Network Foundation. “The tax cuts passed in late 2017 along with deregulation continues to spur confidence.”

“The partial shutdown of the federal government dented economic confidence for a period of time,” said pollster Scott Rasmussen. “However, now that the shutdown is behind us, confidence has rebounded.”

In other Weekly Pulse questions this week, Americans were asked about their reaction to “The Green New Deal.” While the Green New Deal received much news and social media attention, 36 percent of Americans had not heard of it and an additional 34 percent said they had not followed it very closely or not at all closely.

When told that the new programs contained in the Green New Deal would cost more than the combined annual cost of Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and the entire military budget, only 8 percent of Americans strongly favor the plan, with 16 percent somewhat favoring it, and a majority (69 percent) of the respondents opposing the plan.

When asked about the Green New Deal’s intention to eliminate air travel, 78 percent of Americans opposed the idea.

Other polling questions this week included:

How would you rate the US economy today? Excellent (12%), Good (38%), Fair (31%), Poor (15%), Not sure (3%).

Is the economy getting better or worse? Better (32%), Worse (28%), About the same (34%), Not sure (6%).

Okay, how would you rate your own personal finances these days? Excellent (10%), Good (40%), Fair (30%), Poor (17%), Not sure (2%).

Are your personal finances getting better or worse? Better (32%), Worse (17%), About the same (48%), Not sure (3%).

Are companies in your area more likely to be hiring new workers or laying off existing workers? Hiring new workers (43%), Laying off existing workers (18%), Not sure (39%).

For historic data on these economic questions visit: JCNPulse.com

Download full crosstabs on all of this week’s questions:
https://polls.jcnf.org/app/uploads/2019/02/JCNCrosstabs_February_11-12_2019.xlsx

This ScottRasmussen.com/HarrisX poll of 1,093 US adults was conducted Feb. 11-12, 2019. For more information about the Job Creators Network, please visit www.JobCreatorsNetwork.com.