Americans’ Economic Confidence Declines for First Time Since Autumn, Leaves Confidence at Lowest Point Since October 2023
In recent news, a survey by Gallup revealed that Americans’ confidence in the economy has decreased by nine points since the previous month, marking the first decline since autumn. The Gallup Economic Confidence Index, which reflects the public’s perception of current economic conditions, dropped to -29 in April from -20 in March.
The index has a potential range of +100 to -100, with +100 representing all individuals rating the economy as good and -100 indicating all people rating it as poor. Currently, 24 percent of U.S. adults view economic conditions as “excellent” or “good,” 32 percent say conditions are “only fair,” and 44 percent rate them as “poor,” according to Gallup’s report.
According to data from the survey, there was a decrease in the number of people giving positive ratings compared to the previous month, with a corresponding increase in the percentage of individuals who view economic conditions as poor. The decline in economic confidence was observed across all political affiliations in April.
For example, despite Democrats traditionally being more optimistic about the economy, their confidence decreased by four points, from 35 to 31. Similarly, independents saw a decline of 10 points, dropping from -28 to -38. Republicans recorded a significant decrease in confidence, falling from -62 to -71.
Despite this recent drop in confidence, historical data shows that Americans have generally perceived the economy as improving over time. The overall index had reached its lowest point in October 2023 at -41 and then increased before reaching its highest score of +56 in January 2000 and its lowest at -72 in October 2008.
During the initial phases of the COVID-19 pandemic, the index plummeted from +41 in February 2020 to -32 in April 2020 due to rising gas prices and inflation and other factors affecting stock markets and high interest rates. Although there were brief positive values in April and June 2021,
